Loop for Laos, a 5K fund raising event held in Woodstock, NY on October 15th, was a huge success thanks to the efforts of more than 20 local teens. Over $1,000 was raised (plus a whole lot of awareness about the orphans of Luang Prabang).

TEEN POWER: The One Voice team at the registration table before the race began.

People signing in. There was a great turn out.

And they're off! The race begins. (Notice the cool T-shirts).

The planning meeting at Evelyne's house one week before

The finish line.

Hey! Did that dog pay the registration fee?

Coordinated by Caleb Rudge and Isabelle La Motte (with amazing T-shirt design by Jesse Ditkoff), Loop for Laos was yet another successful event coordinated by Hudson Valley teens in support of 600 Laotian orphans living on 15 cents a day.

These "next generation humanitarians", as One Voice for Laos founder Evelyne Pouget likes to call them, did a fantastic job on every level. They did the research, coordinated with Woodstock officials, promoted the event, enrolled local sponsors, designed the T-shirts, blogged about it, and ran.

Plus everyone had a great time in the process. Thank you, guys! You are totally awesome.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:15 PM | Comments (0)

Loop for Laos is this Saturday! Print these out and give them to your friends and family! We hope to see all of you there.

Posted by Sophia Miller at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)

All over the world, there are people struggling to get by every day. They don't have enough to eat, or clean water, or even clothes to wear.

As a teen growing up in middle-class America, we have, fortunately, never had to wonder if there would be food to eat for dinner. And we feel that with that privilege also comes a huge responsibility- a responsibility to make sure that we are not in the minority.

That's why we are writing to you today- to ask for your help. We need your help in order to own our responsibility and help those who do not have the power to help themselves or change their circumstances.

One such group of people is the 600 children of the Deak Kum Pa Orphanage in northern Laos- orphans who live on less than 15 cents a day and don't even have proper clothes to wear.

Our goal, as the One Voice for Laos project, is to raise money to aid the orphanage and help ensure their health and safety as human being and to, hopefully, travel to Laos next June to meet the kids and do some projects for the orphanage while we're there.

This is why we need your help. Right now, the expected cost to travel to Laos is around $3000 USD, and we don't all have that kind of money to go and experience these kids and what it's like to help in such a life-changing way. We are not asking for you to fund my whole trip knowing that everyone is going through hard times financially in this economic climate, but every little bit counts. A dollar is just as appreciated as one hundred. Whatever part you decide to play in this, even if it's just moral support, makes a difference.

So thank you for taking the time to read our plea for help, and we hope that you are willing to help us fulfill our responsibility to those who have less.

Thank you

Posted by Sophia Miller at 07:48 PM | Comments (0)