Reaching Out: A Message from Our Sponsorship Team

Jul 16

What a year this has been! We have missed seeing our sponsors in person. We have missed visiting the children in Nepal and the BSF staff. One of the qualities which makes Mitrata so special is the personal relationship that sponsors develop with the children and often with other sponsors and staff members.

Throughout the pandemic, we have been striving to keep in touch as best we can. This past fall and spring, we delivered sponsor letters to the children who were very happy to receive them. In December, we were also able to deliver the children’s letters to the sponsors, and in January, we sent individual updates to each sponsor regarding their child’s status. Given the current situation with COVID-19, we were not able to travel to Nepal this spring, and thus we were not able to visit the children and send photos and videos, as we usually do. We hope to send out individual updates to the sponsors again in the fall. We appreciate your patience and understanding during these very challenging times.

Many of us learned to use ZOOM during this past year, and that allowed us to host 2 Town Hall meetings with our sponsors and Christine. One advantage of zoom is that we could meet with sponsors across the country and put faces with names! At those meetings, through blogs, and through the letter accompanying our annual report, we shared what was happening in Nepal with our children and staff and answered questions that were uppermost in the minds of our sponsors.

Last year we also held a “virtual” ice cream social to express our appreciation to our sponsors. We are excited to announce that this year, we will be holding our annual Ice Cream Social in person outdoors on August 22nd, 3-5 p.m. at Dr. Sandra Hoffmann’s home in St. Louis, Missouri. We are so looking forward to seeing each other and having a chance to celebrate being together again. For our new sponsors, it will be a chance to meet the Mitrata staff and board members and to hear stories from long-time sponsors. For those who are out of town or unable to attend the August 22nd gathering, we will send out a powerpoint afterward with the most recent updates about Nepal and the Mitrata programs.

We look forward to a future time when we can travel more freely. But in the meantime, please know how much we value you, appreciate you and hope to connect with you in whatever way is possible. Please do not hesitate to reach out and contact Christine, our Executive Director, or Pam Hughes and Danny Williger, our Sponsorship Co-Chairs with any questions or concerns.

Please have a safe and happy summer shared with family and friends.

Sincerely,

Pam Hughes and Danny Williger
Sponsorship Co-Chairs