A Medal for Sasha’s Home

I started off this 2009 with an honor that makes me feel humbled and grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given to help the world’s children.

The mayor of Gorlovka, Ukraine presented me with the city’s Silver Gorlov medal for establishing Sasha’s Home, a seven-apartment foster care facility that provides warm and loving family care for nearly 40 abandoned Ukrainian children who are awaiting adoption by their “forever” families.

Did you know there are more than 100,000 orphans in the Ukraine? Most of them are crowded with sick children into state-run hospitals and have very little chance of adoption.

A missionary named Kenny Payne first told me about these children. After visiting the Abandoned Baby Center in Gorlovka, I knew I had to help. It was there that I first met our youngest son, Aleksey, for whom the home is named. I can’t tell you how much joy he has brought into our family since my husband George and I adopted him.

Proceeds from my new book, Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters, will go toward funding Sasha’s Home.

I’ll post more information about Sasha’s Home in the days ahead. In the meantime, please, please visit the Web site for our Barnes Family Foundation. If you’d like to learn more about my charitable work.

Until next time,