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WE NEED YOUR HELP! We have a successful new non-profit program that helps reduce teen violence in our neighborhoods, BUT because we are so small and lack money we cannot expand and make positive changes in our neighborhoods to an extent to would really impact all of us. WE NEED YOUR DONATIONS. Please read the following description of the program and call us at 503-252-0063 or email us at hopedolls@yahoo.com if you have further questions. My name is Lea Lakeside-Scott and I am employed as a Systems Specialist (troubleshooting computers) at the Multnomah County Donald E. Long Detention Center. In addition to my employment there, I started volunteering time with the female adolescents held in Close Custody at the complex. It soon became apparent to me that the backgrounds of some of these juveniles closely paralleled my own. I grew up in poverty and with abuse and I, too, was a troubled teenager until I turned my life around. I intuitively knew what was lacking in some of their lives and quickly developed a plan where they would be helped by others and would, in turn, help others in the at-risk population. I started the HopeDolls Project in April 2000 and, with the help of many volunteers, we have become a nonprofit organization with tax-free status. Word spread that we would be refurbishing dolls for young girls in various homes and shelters. Offers of volunteers and donations of dolls, accessories and other items have been overwhelming! We have distributed hundreds of dolls/other toys/clothing and much, much more! Our goal is to expand to include refurbishing toys for boys and to have a thrift store where we will sell donated items to make the project self-sustaining. Until we have the store, we desperately need money to keep this worthwhile, wonderful project going. I am writing to ask you to consider making a donation. We will be grateful for ANY amount you send. Every single dollar is important to us! (We will provide a charitable deduction receipt.) If you cannot send a donation, perhaps you will consider donating a small collectible item for us to sell on Ebay. It would be natural to assume that others will contribute and that your donation will not be that important. Please don't assume that or we will be "dead in the water". Every dollar counts! Women with skills in crocheting, knitting, sewing, quilt making, flower arranging, etc., are mentoring the girls in a homey setting with nonjudgmental and loving attitudes. Women in prison are sewing doll clothes and have made beaded jewelry for the teens. The juvenile offenders are seeing that people care about them, that they are valuable, and can contribute to their communities. The end result will be that they will make better choices for their lives. Benefits for the communities in which we live will be significant and far-reaching. Thank you so much for taking your valuable time to read this letter. Please, please go to our website www.hopedolls.org or write to me at hopedolls@yahoo.com for more information. You can also call me at 503.252.0063. Please send your donation to HopeDolls, P O Box 13348, Portland, Or 97213-0348. We also have on- going garage sales to raise money so if you have high quality items that can be sold to raise funds, we would be happy to have them.
Lea Lakeside-Scott/Founder – PO Box 13348 – Portland, OR 97213-0348
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