Happy Friday Everyone! Today I’ve got some pretty exciting news – As some of you may know, Jill, from Compassion Family, recently posted that she was searching for a new home for her Correspondent Kit Giveaway. I’ve long been a fan of Jill’s kits and was thrilled to be able to continue their legacy over here. Jill has been a sponsor with Compassion International for nearly two decades and has seen first hand the impact a relationship grown through letter writing has on a child. As an introduction to the concept of Correspondent Kits, I asked Jill to share a few words about how the idea came about.

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“A few years ago I was looking for a unique Christmas gift idea for my mom and two of my good friends. My two friends were new Compassion sponsors, and I was hoping to find a way to encourage them in developing a relationship with their kids. My mom just needs a little extra push every now and then, so I decided to make correspondence kits for each of them. I had so much fun putting the kits together and really wanted a way to use these to encourage as many people as possible.

Then, almost two years ago there was a shift in my advocacy. I had been to Peru to meet some of our kids and see the ministry of Compassion first hand. While there, I realized that, as an advocate, I had an opportunity to help sponsors be better sponsors. (Before this my advocacy focused on finding new sponsors.) While talking with some Peruvian kids at one Compassion center, they asked us why their sponsors didn’t love them. Not understanding why they would ask such a thing, we asked them a few questions of our own. It turns out their sponsors hadn’t been writing letters, and they took this to mean their sponsors didn’t love them.

This realization broke my heart. After I started my own Compassion-focused blog, I knew I wanted to make correspondence kits available to fellow sponsors and correspondents on a regular basis. I began holding monthly giveaways and it was obvious right from the start this was a popular giveaway.

My hope was that by having a year’s supply of paper and goodies, sponsors and correspondents would be encouraged, inspired, and accountable when it came to writing letters. As far as the kids are concerned, I truly hope they smile when they see the fun paper and goodies their sponsor has sent. I am happy to hand over the torch of creating and giving away correspondence kits to Emily here at With Elephant Grace. I am excited to see the personal touch she will add and may even try to win one myself!

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So now for the details:

Just like Jill, I’ll be featuring 4 gender & aged based kits – Young Boy, Young Girl, Older Boy, & Older Girl. I will also be offering a new type: a Birthday kit. The photos below show one girl kit, one boy kit, and the birthday kit.

Each kit will come with an assortment of pattered papers & color copies of the templates I’ve designed and featured on this blog. In the boy & girl kits, there will be enough paper & templates to write your child at least once a month. In the birthday kit, there will be enough paper & templates to send a very special birthday packet as well as six months worth of letters.

Each kit will also feature and assortment of goodies that will be age & gender appropriate. These might include: stickers, paper puzzles, coloring sheets, activitiy pages, gospel tracts, etc.

On the second Friday of each month I’ll be holding a giveaway and offering free kits to two lucky blog readers.

I’m also planning to offer these kits outside of giveaways. I will be continuing the system that Jill started and asking that instead of paying me for the kits, you make a $10 donation to Compassion International. More information regarding the “purchase” of Correspondent Kits will be coming soon.

Until then, since it’s the second Friday of the month, I’m super excited to kick everything off with a giveaway! This week, and this week only, I’m giving away FOUR Correspondent Kits! To enter, simply leave me a comment and let me know that you’d like to win. Easy Peasy!

This giveaway will remain open all weekend, and winners will be announced Monday, January 14, 2013.

Good Luck & Happy Friday!

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