Chi-town

Andrew and I got back from Chicago this morning.  I would say it was a successful weekend.  We got to eat delicious Chicago style pizza, see the famous giant bean in Millennium Park, tell more people about Love for the Sake of Love, and have a great meeting with Lynn Cole, the Executive Director of Rise International.
I loved being able to hear Lynn's story and learn about the incredible things God has done through that organization in the last 10 years.  We got some really good advice and were able to share some of our passions for Africa and approaching the issues of the developing world.  One thing she emphasized was getting the locals involved and teaching them how to do things for themselves rather than just giving them the things that they need.  Its through this strategy that real and lasting impacts are made.  This is something that we were already planning on doing, but it was nice to get the reminder and hear stories of how this strategy has actually paid off for Rise International.
Now that we're back, I can't wait to get back to work and move forward.  Our applications for our summer trips are due on November 1st, so we're waiting to get the last few applications in as well as continue to plan our charity dodgeball tournament that is now scheduled for January 21st.  We're also still in the final steps of sending in our 501(c)3, but we're still learning just how long and tedious this process is.   I'm not sure where we'll go on our next trip, but I'm looking forward to finding new opportunities to talk to more people with experience and knowledge they can share while also telling others about L4L.

Alison
Co-founder