Sarasota, FL / 24 January, 2006 – Thanks to the inspiring talk given by Betty Gentry, co-founder of the Orphans Hope Project/Uganda, at a recent Episcopal Church Women’s meeting at the Church of the Redeemer, over $3,000 was raised in support of poverty-stricken orphans and widows in Uganda. The entire amount raised, according to Gentry, will go directly toward the Project.

Nearly 60 people from the church and Sarasota community attended the talk on Wednesday, 11 January, and many were moved to make donations to Orphans Hope on the spot.

At the end of Gentry’s talk, children from the LOGOS program at the Church presented Gentry with 35 hand-crafted “Dolls of Love.” The dolls were individually sewn, stuffed, and decorated by the children, and women from the parish assisted them with using sewing machines and following the doll pattern.

Each doll had a red heart sewn on to its chest, and was personalized and signed with a message of love and support from a Redeemer child.

The dolls have no gender or ethnic identifiers – they are meant to convey a message of collective humanity and give the Ugandan orphans a symbol of love and compassion to play with or just hug.

The dolls were made from a pattern provided by Rag Dolls 2 Love, Inc., a nonprofit project devoted to putting “a soft cloth doll in the hands of children” in countries ravaged by war, HIV/AIDS, natural disasters, and the loss of one or both parents. For more information about Rag Dolls 2 Love, visit http://www.ragdolls2love.org.

Gentry is a life-long Episcopalian who has worked as a missionary in Uganda for over 22 years. She spends several months each year in Uganda working alongside her Orphans Hope Project co-founder and Ugandan native, Edward Gitta Mussisi.

Gentry and Mussisi founded Orphans Hope in 1997 as a way to meet this most critical need of Ugandan orphans – education. The Orphans Hope Project provides funding for young children to go to the local schools in their villages. The cost per student is $30 per year for pre-schoolers and $60 per year for students through 7th grade.

According to Gentry, an educated population will help avoid the terrible prospect of genocide in the African country. “When children are not provided with stimulation and an opportunity to learn, they become frustrated,” Gentry said. “Once they become teenagers, that frustration leads to anger,” she continued, “and anger leads to violence.” Through education, she and Mussisi hope the Orphans Hope Project will plant the seeds for work opportunities, financial independence, and peace in Uganda.

To make a donation to Orphans Hope, please make your check payable to “Church of the Redeemer,” including a special notation on the front of the check “ for Orphans Hope Project/Uganda,” and mail to Church of the Redeemer at 222 South Palm Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236.

LOGOS is an opportunity for Christian fellowship for children grades K-5, and meets from 4:00 to 6:30 PM on Wednesdays during the school year. LOGOS provides a format for playtime/homework, worship, art, choir and Bible study.

For more information about ECW, LOGOS, or the Church of the Redeemer and its support of various ministries in Sarasota and throughout the world, please visit redeemersarasota.org or call 955.4263 for more information.