Carrie-Anne Bauer - Bracelets of Hope
Bracelets of Hope help raise $50,000 for Zimbabwe AIDS orphans
- Ottawa Citizen
- 21 Apr 2008
- BY KRISTA SEGGEWISS
Carrie-Anne Bauer’s Bracelets of Hope range in price from $4 to $10. Many volunteers helped make the bracelets which have been sold by merchants in Perth, Smiths Falls and Ottawa.
Carrie-Anne Bauer is determined to make a difference in the lives of children she has never met. The Grade 7 student from Perth raised $50,000 in February to build a medical clinic for AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe.
“I thought it would take five years to raise $50,000 but it only took one year and 11 months,” said Carrie-Anne, 12.
A church presentation about AIDS in Africa sparked CarrieAnne to action. She collected about $1,000 in the first year through barbecues and bake sales. She then began making colourful, beaded bracelets in May 2006. The Bracelets of Hope range in price from $4 to $10. Many volunteers helped make the bracelets which were sold by merchants in Perth, Smiths Falls and Ottawa.
“Perth is a really generous community, it has been amazing,” said Pamela Bauer, CarrieAnne’s mother. “People really wanted to be part of something bigger than them.”
After appearing on CTV in 2007, people from B.C. to New Brunswick contacted the Bauers with offers to help. Mrs. Bauer mailed out 30 different packages full of bracelets across Canada. Two months ago and thousands of bracelets later, the Bauers reached the $50,000 total.
“I think back to the moment when Carrie-Anne cried herself to sleep after seeing that presentation. This is something that has impacted her very deeply,” said Mrs. Bauer. “It’s gone into the fabric of who she is.”
The Bracelets of Hope project continues to surpass the goal. The campaign has raised an additional $2,400 to build two playgrounds in the Village of Hope in Harare, Zimbabwe. The eight-hectare site is run by Emergency Relief and Development Overseas, a humanitarian agency of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. It has two children’s homes and a school with 190 students up to Grade 6. The village feeds 75 children.
The next challenge will be to offset the cost of Carrie-Anne’s visit to Zimbabwe this summer to break ground for the new medical clinic and volunteer at the site. The clinic is set to be completed by the fall .
The trip will cost just under $42,000 for the 10 adults and three children. The group’s latest push to raise funds will include two benefit concerts by children’s entertainers Splash‘N’ Boots. The duo will perform at Stewart School in Perth on May 2 at 7 p.m. and May 3 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 each to a maximum of $35 for a family of six. They can be purchased at Shadowfax in Perth or with a credit card by calling 1-800-518-2729.