A Grateful Look Back on a Year of Generosity
What an amazing year this has been with Rooted for Good, especially for all the people that we were able to uplift through our Good for Others commitment!
For every purchase YOU made, 10% of your sale went to help people in need in third world countries. As we wrap up the year, let’s look back at all the people we helped through your support!
Maria Magdalena Home - Peru
Santa Maria Magdalena’s Home is a place for unwed mothers and their children. These women and children suffer under the yoke of poverty, domestic violence, and unjust living conditions in some of the poorest communities. The hope of Santa Maria Magdalena’s Home is twofold—that of renewing the mother’s sense of worth and restoring human dignity to mothers as well as their children.
This year, we were able to help a specific couple, Geiber and Irma, in addition to the other women. The couple had been living together off and on, having 4 children together. They were physically and spiritually sick. Now, they are both baptized in the Catholic Church and thanks to God's Mercy and honestly your support of Magdalena Home, Geiber and Irma have received their sacrament of marriage - an outward sign of just how much Jesus has healed their hearts and made them one in His image. In a real way, the little community of Santa Clara has witnessed a healing miracle!
Mary's Meals - From Haiti to Zimbabwe
On 12 January 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti killing 300,000 people. Fifteen years on, the key threat the country faces is not from nature but from extreme instability caused by lawless gangs. Daily shootings and killings dominate life, with entire areas under gang rule, leaving residents powerless to ensure their safety. Schools suffer closures, businesses are paralysed, and many essential services are inaccessible.
Global charity Mary’s Meals is on the front lines of this atrocity, providing meals to more than 2.4 million children every day. They work in partnership with some of the world’s poorest communities, and first started working in Haiti in 2006.
Since then, the promise of a nutritious meal at school has drawn hundreds of thousands of Haitian children into the classroom, where they can focus on their education and find stability and hope of a brighter future.
Mary’s Meals is currently on the ground in 500 Haitian places of education as well as other 3rd world countries like Zimbabwe (another country whose citizens benefited from your 10%), feeding hundreds of thousands of children every school day with support from local volunteers.
In November alone, Rooted for Good was able to sponsor feeding and educating 60 children for a FULL school year! Wow! That was only possible because of your purchases!
Ezekiel Center - Ecuador
No parent ever expects to lose a child. And yet, that worst nightmare happened on September 8, 2014. A beautiful boy named Ezekiel drowned while his family was serving in Villa de Juarez, Coahuila, Mexico. Desiring to use their painful experience to enter into the suffering of others, they opened the first Ezekiel home in 2015, in the town of Pucacaca, San Martin, Peru.
The Ezekiel Center provides: food to families in its local area, help to families when emergencies arise, dinner to 40-50 kids every weekday, a fitness center with physical and nutritional education, employment to many, and daily classes in faith formation, reading, language, music, dance, and arts and crafts.
As with any charity, the needs are never ending and the vision of the founders, graciously expanding. Your purchases helped provide them with funds they needed to serve others!
Love, Joy, and Hope Foundation
The Love Joy and Hope Foundation is privileged to make a difference in the lives of marginalized and abandoned children who have faced unimaginable trauma, abuse, and neglect. The foundation provides a home-like environment, run with love and care by Lenny and Nadia, where these children can heal, grow, and thrive. By the grace of God, they have been able to create a nurturing space where children can receive education, holistic development, and most importantly, love and acceptance.
With the support of generous donors, Lenny and Nadia have been able to provide these children with the opportunities they deserve to succeed. Their home is more than just a place of residence; it is a sanctuary where children can heal, learn, and grow in a safe and loving environment.
However, the work doesn't stop at their home. Love Joy and Hope Foundation also reaches out to children on the streets, trying to remove them from the cycle of begging and exploitation. They create awareness about the better life that awaits these children if they choose to seek help, supporting them every step of the way.
Your 10% has gone toward helping Lenny and Nadia to start a Girls' Home. Their prayers for the Lord to send generous people to help them in their financial need is being answered, thanks to you!
Our Lady of Rest Elderly Home in Haiti - Remembering Lucienne
The team at Our Lady of Rest Elderly Home experienced a loss this year- Lucienne, one of the first residents to come passed away. Your purchases from Rooted helped to offset her funeral costs.
Lucienne had two children who both tragically passed away, leaving her to live by herself. One day, she had a bad accident where she fell and broke her femur. When she arrived at the hospital, they told her they were unable to treat her, saying she had to go somewhere else. Tragically, she had no family to take her to another hospital or to care for her; so, she went untreated. Her leg " healed" crooked, leaving her without the ability to walk. With good intention, another woman started taking care of Lucienne; but, she wasn't bathed or fed often enough. Her days were typically spent sitting by herself alone in the dark.
When Our Lady of Rest invited her into the nursing home, Lucienne was ecstatic! She had a thick country accent that was hard to understand, but she loved very intensely! Her favorite pass times were holding Gabriel (the infant son of Bea, who manages the home) and listening attentively during prayer and scripture sharing.
Lucienne was a joy to be around and despite her great misfortunes, she never complained. She was an inspiration and a holy woman of God! Thank you so much for helping pay tribute to this woman's life through your purchases!
Caritas Program - Phillipines
Situated in Poblacion, Sante Fe, Cebu, Santo Niño Roman Catholic Parish has a special program that they offer for their many parishioners: “The Caritas Program.”
Fr. Dave Villaceran, the only parish priest there, offers a special service for individuals in need. Every week, his team will visit one “barangay” (village) to find what he calls the “least, lost, and last” of their brothers and sisters within the community. As you can imagine, that is no easy task amongst a community of very poor individuals.
They visit the farthest locations of each barangay to identify the right beneficiary of the program on a week by week basis. With discernment, a beneficiary is chosen.
On Sunday after the 2nd Mass, the selected beneficiary will be provided basic items such as rice, groceries, and other necessities depending on their needs. Some other donations are pillows, mats, blankets, water dispensers, kettles, and bed pads among other things.
Rooted was blessed to assist this small parish with necessary funds to help keep this program going and it was only possible through your purchases. Thank you!
Rahab's Rope
Rahab's Rope is an incredible initiative that has spread awareness and worked to help eradicate human trafficking since 2004. They exist to empower women and children in the fight against human trafficking. One hundred percent of their profits from sales and donations fund the work they do.
By creating a safe and loving environment through education and vocational training women and children are empowered to grow and develop physically, mentally, financially, and spiritually. They work in the areas of prevention, direct intervention and aftercare.
The Founder of Rahab’s Rope, speaks about the history behind their name: "We believe nothing happens in our lives by chance and timing is God-appointed. As God was opening my eyes to the women in crisis, I was also taking an Old Testament Bible class and was studying the story of Rahab, found in the book of Joshua. The rope in the story represents Rahab's rescue both physically and spiritually. Due to the large amount of flax plant Rahab had, there is a high probability that Rahab made the rope herself. Our hope is that, just as the rope that Rahab made represents her rescue, the skills taught to the women at our women's centers will represent their physical and spiritual rescue as well. It seemed fitting for Rahab's Rope to be our name."
Rahab's Rope exists to empower women and children in the fight against human trafficking. Thank you for helping their team equip women with skills to live a life of hope and sustainability.
From Peru, Ecuador, and the Philippines, to Haiti, and Zimbabwe, your purchases brought food, education, necessities, and healing to so many people around the world. From all of us at Rooted for Good, thank you for making this a GREAT year!
Learning and Growing Together,
Anna Ketterling
