Nappies For Nork Success

The Nappies for Nork fundraiser has closed and was a giant success.  In just two weeks, we raised $11,000 to provide diapers for the children at Rex's former orphanage.  From giving three dollars to keep a child dry for a single day to four figure donations, so many opened their hearts to make a difference, one clean bottom at a time.

To everyone who contributed (whether cash toward diapers or items for the raffle) and spread the word, I thank you with all of my heart.  When I sat at this desk three weeks ago looking for a way to help, I hoped to raise $1000 to cover the most pressing demand for a time.  Now, around 38,000 diapers will be available for these precious children as needed.

What do 38,000 diapers look like?  Well, a new, folded Pampers is about a half an inch thick, so 38,000 of them stack to approximately 1500 feet which is how far you'd have to walk to get from Yerevan's Cascade Complex to the Opera House.

View from the Cascade to the Opera House

I will share with you the details about the diaper delivery as I receive them.  Given how much money was raised, SOAR will be able to buy diapers on a monthly basis for quite a while.  SOAR's Executive Director in Yerevan has spoken with the Nork orphanage director and learned that approximately three additional packs of diapers are needed per day to change each child two to three times in a 24 hour period.  The cost to provide these extra diapers per six weeks is approximately $2000, so our fundraiser will be able to cover this need for at least seven months.

Since such an incredible amount of money was raised, we also plan to share around 10% of it with Mari Izmirlyan Orphanage, an older child orphanage, in Yerevan.  Some of the children we met who lived at Nork with Rex and in Gyumri with Ella have since moved to Mari Izmirlyan, so now my love stretches to this orphanage as well.  Mari Izmirlyan serves many children with medical and developmental special needs, some of whom continue to require diapers well past their sixth birthdays.

Again, thanks to everyone who stepped up to join me in this endeavor and blew my wildest dreams for it out of the water.

*Raffle winners have been drawn and will be notified privately.