BLOG.PROJECTLEFTBEHIND.ORG

It's been awhile... 501C3 status... more blogs coming...

2010-05-12T13:40:00Z

MAY 2010:

It’s been awhile since my last blog at Project Left Behind. However, we’ve been keeping very busy. The most important accomplishment over the past few months is our attainment of 501C3 status. It’s official-Project Left Behind is now a tax exempt charity per the IRS. Donations to Project Left Behind are now eligible for tax exempt status. As a reminder, according to our bylaws, your donations are prohibited from being used for any overhead. 100% of all donations will be used to support our ongoing projects for orphans around the world. For an updated status on current projects, please visit our ‘projects’ page on the website, www.projectleftbehind.org.

You’ll also be seeing my blogs a little more frequently. After much thought, I’ve decided to write about different countries, orphanages and plights of orphans around the world. It’s my intention to make my blogs informational while focusing on different countries around the globe. It’s easy to get wrapped up in our day to day lives and to forget about them. For me, nighttime is when I sit back and contemplate the daily hardships many of these children have to overcome. I know far too many went to bed tonight hungry, lonely, sick and unloved. It’s so tragic that it’s hard to really focus on their pain for too long. I get so impatient wanting to help them that I usually just end up frustrated trying to think of some grand plan to fix all of their problems.

I appreciate you being part of my journey and thank you in advance for your support. Please keep all orphans around the world in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T15:58:00Z

A LOOK BACK AT 2009

New Year’s Eve seems an appropriate time to step back and reflect on the previous year. Throughout 2009 I’ve witnessed some fantastic accomplishments. My wife began selling NuttZo (an organic omega-3 multi-nut butter) on store shelves midway through the year and business has taken off. Her product has been featured in Triathlete and Competitor magazines, the Today Show (NBC), and in multiple television and newspaper articles. She is tremendously successful-and just beginning. NuttZo is the primary sponsor of Project Left Behind and critical to its success.

My medical device job continues to be very rewarding and enjoyable. I thoroughly enjoy what I do and realize I am privileged to do it. In addition, I’m still working part time as a Naval Officer in the reserves. Professionally, life has been very good thru 2009.

On a personal note, however, 2009 was one of the most challenging in my life. It was regularly filled with more stress, disappointment, and challenging surprises than I care to recall. My gray hair has now fully overtaken the brown color that once dominated it.

I do realize that I am blessed to have my life, my family, and my job. One of the highlights for my wife and I in 2009 was the creation of Project Left Behind. It has been a longtime goal of ours to finally begin our quest to give back and assist orphans throughout the world. As I write this today, we are awaiting our 501C3 designation from the IRS and anticipate it sometime in January or February. We’ll announce it on the website the day it’s received. Please take a look at our projects page. We’re excited to share our experiences with you and will be posting photos in January. In addition, we will select other projects throughout 2010 and will be sharing them with you. This truly is just the beginning. Thank you for sharing our dream.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOARD MEMBERS

2009-10-01T05:34:00Z

I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to the board members of project left behind. Although we are currently a small organization, I believe that we have the right people in place to effectively manifest the change that we seek to create. Annotated below is a brief introduction to the four members of the board, whose task is to fulfill the ambitious mission statement of Project Left Behind.

I’ll begin with an introduction to myself. My wife Danielle and I co-founded project left behind. It’s been a dream of ours since we adopted our first son Gregory from the Ukraine in 2002. I am the proud father of two adopted boys from the Ukraine. Although the process was scary, uncertain,and emotional, it has proven to be the most impactful part of my life. I cannot imagine how empty my life would be had we not adopted our two boys. I have a B.A. in Political Economy and an M.A. in Economics from Fordham University in New York. I’m a huge Fordham fan-very proud to be an alumnus. Fordham reinforced the value system that my parents taught me growing up and was a stabilizing and challenging force in my life. I am a Naval Officer, currently in the Naval Reserves. Although not exactly conducive to family life, I am honored to serve my country and to be a Naval Aviator. My day job is selling medical devices for Amplatzer Medical Corporation. It is the best job I’ve had since leaving the Navy, permitting me to directly and positively impact patients lives. I am serving as the executive director and treasurer of Project Left Behind. Creating project left behind is a fulfillment of a dream for my wife and I. Thank you for being a part of it.

Danielle LiVolsi is my wife and the co-founder of Project Left Behind. She is serving as the secretary. Danielle is an entrepreneur, the founder of JagRma LLC. Her initial product launch is NuttZo, an organic omega-3 multi-nut butter. She is the best chef I know,creating incredibly nutritious and delicious meals on a daily basis. NuttZo is one of her many popular creations. NuttZo is a proud supporter of Project Left Behind. In her prior life, she was a very successful Sales Executive at a radio station in San Diego, CA. She is also a graduate of Fordham University in New York, receiving her B.S. degree in marketing. I credit Danielle with being the driver for adopting our children from the Ukraine. She is a leader who stands up for what is right and in defense of those who cannot help themselves. I am proud to call her my wife.

Sue Farinacci is Danielle’s bestfriend and former co-worker. She will serve as an officer and voting member on Project Left Behind. Sue has a B.A. degree from Stephen F. Austin University and is the proud mother of 3 great children. In her prior life, Sue was the National Sales Manager at the same radio station in San Diego that Danielle worked for. One of Sue’s greatest strengths is collaborating with Danielle on ‘out of the box’ solutions to whatever problems we’re currently facing. She is as much of a driver as Danielle, and is a trusted advisor and true friend. I trust her implicitly and greatly value her input. She is an essential member of the team that will help Project Left Behind fulfill its mission statement.

Teresa Poulos is my sister and one of the most caring people that I know. She will serve as an officer and voting member on Project Left Behind. Teresa has a B.A. degree from Western Connecticut State University and currently resides in Orlando, FL. She is a Human Resources Executive who also serves on the board of another 501c3 non-profit organization. Teresa was sought out to serve on the board because she brings to the team creative solutions for accomplishing our mission statement. Like the other three members,she is passionate about helping orphans and maximizing Project Left Behinds’ ability to assist orphans throughout the world.

You can be assured that the four of us will work diligently to assist orphans around the globe. This is our passion. We are all non-paid volunteers with a strong desire to help those orphans who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in very difficult circumstances. I am profoundly humbled by your interest and trust in us to carry out our mission statement. Welcome to the journey of our lives.

--Kevin

The Beautiful Orphaned Children of Nepal

2009-07-15T15:15:00Z

7/4/09-7/12/09
Kathmandu, Nepal

I was a volunteer working at www.aishworya.org .

38 children touched my heart forever!

Do you have 5 minutes to allow them to touch your heart too?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zoh8PN6AOg

-Danielle LiVolsi
Founder/President JagRma LLC (NuttZo brand)

Nepal Here I Come!

2009-06-28T19:19:00Z

Ok, less than a week away and a lot of people have been asking me about Nepal and what I'll be doing there! So here it is! PS. Thanks for following me on this journey.

I'm volunteering through the RCDP (Rural Community Development Program).

Poverty and past conflicts in Nepal have seriously affected the people living there. This situation has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people and turned many children into orphans. The situation is even worse in the villages so thousands of children arrive in urban centers like Kathmandu and Chitwan in search of jobs and a prosperous future.Unfortunately, the reality of city life is very different from the charmed life they’ve imagined. The children face danger and exploitation. Many of them work over 14-hours a day in industries,hotels, and restaurants and many of them sleep on the streets. There is no government initiative to protect a child's fundamental rights and privileges. In response to this crisis, concerned citizens have opened orphanages and tried to house, care and educate the children. RCDP Nepal has also recognized this reality and established Child Welfare Centers in Chitwan and Kathmandu. In addition, RCDP Nepal has also been working with more than 15 local organizations to rescue these children from a life of poverty and degradation.

Asa volunteer in the RCDP orphanage placement position, I will work tobetter the lives of these children by caring for them and teaching them life skills. Although this is not an RCDP English teaching placement position, I will be tutoring English (me teaching English, ha!), sewing (does sewing on a button count?), painting (right up my alley), tailoring (not so much), crafting (ok I’m in), typing (sure), and computing (definitely). Also during my stay, I’ll be providing basic care for them which will include a focus on health, nutrition, and hygiene.

My set intentions for this trip: to leave these children with a feeling of being loved, respected, and the unwavering assurance that someone truly cares-- May an angel's wing touch every orphaned child-- these are the most innocent of innocent!

My hair will be huge and my heart will be wide-open!

I’m bringing peace, joy, and love!

--Danielle LiVolsi

Go NuttZo!

GENESIS OF PROJECT LEFT BEHIND

2009-05-17T22:42:35Z

Welcome to Project Left Behind - a non-profit organization dedicated to providing human touch, nourishment, and surrogate nurturing tools to orphans around the world.

Our journey began in a small orphanage in the rural town of Mykolaib, Ukraine. As we entered the common room filled with children waiting in line to use the bathroom, our son Gregory Michael was told that his parents were here to meet him. This little 3 1/2 year-old blonde-haired, skinny boy walked over to meet us and change our lives forever. Over the next ten days we would visit the orphanage twice a day to get acquainted with each other. We took Gregory on long walks around the orphanage, all the while feeding him bananas and covertly giving him small amounts of cold medicine in an attempt to provide some relief from his persistent runny nose. The other children in the orphanage would crowd around the windows to get a view of us walking together outside. The image of all those little children staring enviously out the window at us is always close at hand. I think about them and where they might be every day of my life. True to form, Gregory has changed our lives forever and we are all blessed to be together.

A few years later, we once again found ourselves walking into an orphanage. This time, however, we were in the beautiful port city of Odessa, Ukraine. It was there, in a lime green two-story building, that we met our son Matthew James. At only 1-1/2 years old, he was nervously excited and greeted us with swollen glands and the same persistent runny nose that we had seen a few years earlier with Gregory. As before, we would visit Matthew daily, sure to bring plenty of bananas, yogurt, and applesfor him to devour (as well as a small amount of cold medicine). We officially adopted Matthew on January 24th, my late brother Greg's birthday, in a courtroom in the Ukraine. Since adopting Matthew back in 2005, our family is complete and I am privileged to be their father.

Project Left Behind was created for all of the children who were left to grow up in orphanages throughout the world. The tens of millions of children who don't get adopted have the deck of life stacked against them. Fundamental basics such as unconditional love, meaningful value systems, education, and consistent health care are either non-existent or severely lacking for these children. Regardless of how well-intentioned the orphanage staff might be, they are almost always underfunded and overcrowded. Our quest is to intervene in the process in order to give some of these children a chance. They didn't get to choose where they were born, or to whom. It is through no fault of their own that they find themselves being raised in an orphanage. We can't help every child in the world, but we can try. These children are the very definition of innocent victims who simply deserve a chance to live a meaningful and productive life. It is our intention to make that happen. Will you help us?

May an Angel's wing touch every orphaned child!
-Kevin