A Special Thank You to Island Pacific Academy and Na Lio Kai Pony Club

The 4th Annual Operation Holiday Heroes (2015) was a HUGE success.  Over 130 gifts were delivered to the sick and injured residents and families of Tripler Hospital's Fisher House.  Thanks to our fellow Island Pacific Academy students and Hawaii's Na LiKai Pony Club for raising money, collecting needed items and wrapping, delivering and sharing gifts this year!

Lindsay, Hannah & Alexa

Na Lio Kai Pony Club, founded in 1993, has a mission to provide a program for youth that teaches riding, mounted sports, and the care of horses and ponies, thereby developing responsibility, moral judgment, leadership and self-confidence. Thank you Na Lio Kai for your efforts and for sending representatives: Lindsay Grimshaw, Hannah Button & Alexa Sabatini.

Kim - Back from UCLA!

Jack & Carson in action!

This is the second year that Island Pacific Academy (IPA) has pitched in to help us make a BIG difference! Thank you to fellow students, staff and former students... Kim Uehisa, Carson Lofton, everyone who donated or wrapped gifts, and Carly, Jack & Hannah Button.

Manager Anita Klingerman & residents of Fisher House.

Lots of big SMILES!

For more information or additional photos, here's a link:
Operation Holiday Heroes 2015

We received a last minute call for help from a wonderful organization needing gifts for teens!  Glad we could support North Shore's Operation Toy Box that provides hundreds of toys and gifts to children in our community!

Seven Continents 2015

Dream of a Better World invites you to make a difference on ALL seven continents this holiday season.  Join us in celebrating by GIVING the gift of health, warmth, shelter, protection and perhaps even life itself.  GIVE the gift that helps kids and families rise from the depths of poverty and despair.  GIVE… give ANYTHING you can… and you will help change the world, literally.

This year, by CLICKING on the "WHOLE WORLD" button in the right side panel, we can split your donation and distribute it to a project on every continent.  Your gift will literally reach around the world to spread goodness and hope to those in need!  Or, you can donate to your favorite project or continent by simply clicking on their individual "DONATE" button.

Our projects range anywhere from buying back packs and school supplies for kids that can’t afford them, to helping with a vegetable garden for an orphanage in Peru. Or, even to help save the Whale Sharks in the Galapagos and Antarctica to protect them from poachers. And, we are all saddened by the recent terror attacks in France, and with your help we will be assisting the victims of this terrible crime!  

We are super excited to deliver every gift that goes towards these great projects and we well be sure that every penny goes towards its designated cause.  Together, we can make a difference again on EVERY continent.  

Thank you for your on-going support!  Love, Hannah, Jack & Carly

If you'd like to find out more about each project and all 7 continents, you can click on the "Continent" links below:

North America

Operation Holiday Heroes 2015  

Fisher House Hawaii -Honolulu

Goal – $1,000.00

For supplies and holiday gifts for wounded veterans and their families.

South America

Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos - Peru

Growing vegetables at the orphanage in Peru

Goal –  $487.00

For a gardener, agricultural water access and plants

Asia

Maria’s Big House of Hope 2015  

Goal: $1,100.00 
For a specialized "Zipzac II" wheelchair for kids (extra funds will be used to purchase nebulizers at $60/each)

Africa

Our Own Home Uganda – 2015   

Goal : $2,000.00

For a traditional holiday celebration for 62 HIV+ kids at the orphanage.  Celebrating 6 years of incredible partnership!

Antarctica & Environment

Save the Whale Shark through the research efforts of explorer Jonathan Greene and the Turtle Island Restoration Network.

Goal: $1,000.00 
To help end poaching and Whale Shark population decline.

Australia & New Zealand

Diving for a Cause  - Whakatane, New Zealand

Goal - $700.00

For backpacks filled with school supplies for kids and needs for women, all living in a battered women’s shelter.

Europe (Fully Funded)

Victims of terrorism
$500.00 Goal Achieved!
As of 12/3/15, this project has been fully funded.  Any additional donations will go to provide assistance to families of recent domestic terrorist attack.

4th Annual Operation Holiday Heroes!

We're gearing up to make the holidays brighter for the 19 military families at the Tripler Hospital's Fisher House.  It's like the famous Ronald McDonald House, but Fisher House Hawaii takes care of our US military families.  They will house the families of sick, injured or wounded soldiers and veterans and they are ALWAYS full!  Right now there is a 35 family waiting list to get in!  At Fisher House, they believe that "families are good medicine" and we learned that same lesson when our mom went through cancer treatment.

We'll keep you posted for our bake sales and wrapping party.  If you'd like to drop off gifts or goodies, please do!  And, we will by purchasing gift certificates and everyday supplies for the residents, so we appreciate your support!

2015 Presidential Award Goes to Three Dream Team Members!

North Shore’s Lindsay Grimshaw, Jackson Button, and Hannah Button, have received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award in recognition of their outstanding charity work in 2015.  These Waialua teenagers have already contributed a combined 750 hours of community service this year.  They have collected and donated $14,500 worth of food, gifts and support to projects ranging from Mauloa Food Pantry at Sunset Beach Christian Church, to gifts for sick and injured service members at Tripler Hospital Fisher House to funding rescue efforts at St. Croix Animal Welfare Center.

Jackson & Moses 201

RECENT NEWS...

We just received an updated 2015 edition of "The Hero's Trail" by best selling author T.A. Barron.  One of the inspirational stories included is about Jackson Button, co-founder of Dream of a Better World, and his on-going work with Our Own Home in Jinja, Uganda.

The land has been purchased!  And, according to Jackson, his next dream is: the "Dream of a Better World Academy."  

Saving Lives - Four Paws at a Time!

On behalf of ALL dogs everywhere, we want to thank you in advance for helping us to rescue abused, abandoned and forgotten animals!

We are partnering with Sali Gear and the most incredible organization: Saint Croix Animal Welfare Center in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

There are many sad things happening to the animals there and it is such a small place that you realize you can make a huge difference and really help an entire community.  We are honored to be working with such a devoted group and when you hear about how much they are doing, it is nearly impossible not to want to be a part of it!

NEWS ALERT!   If you'd like to GIVE, we are currently having a MATCHING gift campaign.

A very generous Dream of a Better World donor will MATCH whatever you give!   So, through the month of July... 

ANYTHING you give will be DOUBLED, up to $5,000. 

All of the money will be used to rescue and provide for these abused and unwanted animals.  St. Croix Animal Welfare Center also  provides safe shelter until all of its animals find adoptive families or foster care, or live out their lives in a safe and loving shelter environment. 

HAVE YOUR DONATION MATCHED... Just click on the "Animal Rescue" donation button (RIGHT) or mail in a donation to our HQ to help little friends like these:

Dream of a Better World
P.O. Box 455
Haleiwa, Hawaii  96712








If you'd like to GIVE to any of your other favorite Dream of a Better World projects, we are still working around the world.  You can CLICK on your favorite continent donation button or on "Where Needed Most."  Thank YOU!!

Please Help Us Save Dogs!

Just like these two…

Lottie                  &                                      Dottie

And, thousands of other dogs from Kern County, California to Healing Paws Sanctuary on St. Croix in the Virgin Islands.  These animals are being euthanized daily due to poor conditions, lack of funding and lack of ability to afford spay and neuter fees and other needs. 

Join us on Saturday, June 20^th

10:00am-2:00pm

At The Depot Café

in downtown Mill Valley

We will be offering freshly baked goods

and a huge selection of radically discounted

food storage containers that anyone can use!

100% of your donation will be used to bring these dogs to shelters, homes and farms, where they will be cleaned, fed, vaccinated and

most of all, loved!

From there, they will find their forever families and live happily ever after.

Help us give these dogs a chance! Any donation is appreciated!

 

Full Hearts & Pantry!

Thank you all for your support of donated food and money.  We were able to make a significant contribution to filling the shelves of the Mauloa food pantry.  And, thanks to your generosity, we also delivered a check to them for $500.

We have come to know a few of their homeless clients and they were very, very thankful for the help we were able to give them.

Antarctica Update - The Whale Shark Project

Hey there dreamers, it's Hannah!  I know that many of you are animal and earth-lovers, just like me, and I want to share with you more about one of our Seven Continents Partners.  It is an amazing organization that's doing everything it can to save the world, one species at a time.  The Turtle Island Restoration Network is  looking to protect certain rare, beautiful and endangered species.  There motto is: "Fighting for a blue-green planet," and they have teamed up with a our new friend, explorer and naturalist Jonathan R. Green.  Jonathan is the brainchild for the "Galapagos Whale Shark Project," and our contact for Antarctica. He started this project in 2000 and is a leading researcher of the whale sharks.

We met Jonathan through my cousin, who has travelled down to the Galapagos with him on an expedition.  Jonathan is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London.  He saw the slaughter of these beautiful creatures by fisheries in the Pacific and Indian oceans, and has worked passionately to protect them ever since.  Through Jonathan we have learned a lot about the illegal poaching of whale sharks.

Whale sharks have been listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature since 2002, largely because of the presence of these whale shark fisheries, most of which have now been closed.

However, whale sharks are still taken as by-catch, or illegally.  Last year, a single slaughterhouse in southeastern China's Zhejiang province was found to process up to 6000 whale sharks annually.  Whale shark fins are also highly prized as trophies, and can be sold for up to $1,000 each!

This year, we worked with Jonathan to raise money to put a tracker on a whale shark.  Now, the Turtle Restoration Network can track that whale shark to see where it, and other whale sharks travel to, and they can potentially find where they breed and where and how to best protect these sharks.

Thank you to everyone that helped us raise the money to track this shark!  Hopefully, with the progress we have made with the whale shark tracking, we can make a difference with these beautiful animals, and potentially help to bring back the species to the thriving state they were once in.

If you would like continue helping these whale sharks through the "Galapagos Whale Shark Project," you can donate to our "ANTARCTICA" button and can find out more at: www.seaturtle.org.

Thank you for helping to make our "blue-green" world a better place!

Ps. - It's Jack, and I also wanted to thank you by sharing one more fun-fact!  Jonathan said that this summer he wants to tag a new whale shark and name it "HANNAH!"  Stay tuned!

Could this be Hannah? ;)

Easter Food Drive - URGENT NEWS!

Last Minute

Easter Food Drive!

Collecting items through SATURDAY 4/4!

Hey there friends and neighbors!  We heard that the food pantry on the North Shore is running low, so we wanted to do something to help!  Please bring down your extra nonperishable and canned food items so that we can help. Or, feel free to make a monetary donation and we will buy the canned foods for you.  Thanks to everyone!  PLEASE make monetary donations directly to one of us, or by using the NORTH AMERICA DONATE button on the left panel of our blog or website.

- The Button Kids, Dream Team Members

Bring any food donations to 68-505 Crozier Drive by Saturday 4/4 (you can leave them inside the gate if we aren't there) or you can call 615-293-2009 and an adorable teenager will find a way to come down and pick it up!

CHANGING OUR WORLD - The Seven Continents UPDATE

GOALS ACHIEVED = $18,410.00

We have learned that the BEST WAY to say "thank you" is to share the results.  

With a total of $18,410 in donations we purchased and donated:

Christmas gifts and supplies for wounded and sick veterans and their families living at Fisher House in Honolulu, and food for the Mualoa Foundation, who helps feed and support the hungry and homeless on Oahu’s North Shore.


Clean sheets and bedding for Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (NPH) orphanage in Bolivia.   NPH is a home for 110 children who have been orphaned or abused. Many have been abandoned or shuffled from one family member to another. Like all children, they are seeking love and security, a place they can call home. Once they arrive at Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (NPH), they will never be asked to leave. 

We are helping to protect the endangered whale sharks from poaching and population decline in the Galapagos and surrounding areas.   Dream of a Better World has partnered with Jonathan Green and Turtle Island Restoration Network who are committed to protecting endangered animals and the environment in the Antarctica and Galapagos.  They are helping keep the world and it’s ecosystems intact and flourishing for generations to come.

For our Europe project we are working with Great Ormond Street Hospital, a hospital for children in London, England. This very special hospital treats children from all over the globe with complex medical conditions, some of which are life threatening.  We are giving them a state of the art respirator and neo-natal masks for babies.  We wish to make these kid's treatments more safe, comfortable and stress-free.


For our project in Africa we are excited to continue our work with Our Own Home, an HIV/AIDS orphanage in Jinja, Uganda. We are all very passionate about this organization, and have been supporting it for 5 years now.  Our Own Home is becoming very self-sufficient, and we want to help them continue on this path by providing them with 2 milking cows, a complete chicken farm and tons of chickens to provide milk and eggs for more protein in their diets.

Five years ago, our friends from Tennessee, Marybeth and Steven Curtis Chapman officially opened Maria’s Big House of Hope in China.  Maria’s Big House of Hope has provided a solid and loving place to live and acute medical care to over 800 Chinese orphans, most with special needs.  We are donating 2 tumbler form support chairs for disabled children and 2 new Nellcor pulse oximeters for monitoring their health in a comfortable, non-invasive way.

Dream of a Better World has partnered with KidsCan to provide free footwear and socks for children who come to school in winter without footwear or with shoes that are in bad condition. Also in New Zealand, we are assisting Diving For a Cause who will be providing  Maori community assistance in local environmental community service projects. 

THANK YOU!

All of these INCREDIBLE projects are on-going.  If you'd like to donate to any particular project, please CLICK your desired DONATE button on the right!

Operation Holiday Heroes 2014 - A Big Success!

WOW… We knew that Operation Holiday Heroes was a big success this year.  But, we didn't expect that the ARMY would agree so LOUDLY on the official homepage of the United States ARMY!  Thank you to everyone who volunteered, donated or cheered us on!  Thank you especially to the military families who give to our country each and every day!

Here is a really sweet quote by Anita Clingerman, the manager of Tripler Hospital Fisher House (from Army Weekly): “It’s especially difficult that most of our residents are far away from family and home during the holidays,” says Clingerman. “These Dream of a Better World kids really lift our spirits, just when we need it most.  And, they are another great reminder that people still care about our military families.”

Anita Clingerman, the Fisher House Residents & Dream Team Kids!

We thank you Anita, and all of the Fisher House Residents!  

If you'd like to read the articles, here are Links:

http://www.hawaiiarmyweekly.com/2014/12/29/2014s-operation-holiday-heroes-is-successful/

http://www.army.mil/article/140081/2014_s_Operation_Holiday_Heroes/

OPERATION HOLIDAY HEROES 2015
We have been collecting donations, having bake sales, yard sales and selling "Special Delivery" cookbooks since 2011.  Since then, we have delivered goodies, games and gifts for Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter and the 4th of July to our sick and injured veterans and military families

Valentine's Day is right around the corner!

So… we take DONATIONS all year long for this amazing cause.  If you're interested, please CLICK on the North America - Operation Holiday Heroes "DONATE" button.

Thank You!

Ps.  If you want to ORDER cookbooks, go to Amazon.com OR click on this link:

 "Special Delivery - Support Our Troops EDITION"