Yes, This is All Going to Fit.

Whenever we do a trip like this, there are always a lot of questions about luggage: How is all of this stuff getting there? How many bags are you allowed? How much can they each weigh? You're taking all of this yourself? What if the airline looses your luggage? Answers: We're taking it. 2 checked bags each. 50 pounds each. Yes. They won't. Above are backpacks that we are taking to the Dominican Republic, and I know what you're thinking---that is never going to fit! Oh, but it does!
Packing is always a challenge, but somehow, the piles and pounds of donated items always find themselves neatly (kind of) packed into the suitcases, and they all always manage to weigh just what we are allowed to have. And, if you ever pack with Nicole, the most organized 18-year old alive, chances are it will be the most organized packing you ever do in your life, complete with an assembly line. We tried to be as organized as we could and pack by project, but that didn’t happed so much! We have so much stuff, so once we get into the DR, we will be unpacking, organizing and re-packing to make sure the right stuff gets to the right children.

It's going to close---just wait and see!

Success!

Nicole and Kara spent the afternoon on June 13th packing everything into suitcases, and there wasn't any room to spare! Because Pennsbury High School National Honor Society is the best, they collected 80 backpacks with school supplies. That means that every child in one of the projects we'll be visiting will be receiving a backpack complete with school supplies.

We leave for the Dominican Republic on Friday, June 20th. On Saturday morning, June 21st we leave for Punta Cana and a few days at the beach. We will then leave Punta Cana on the morning of Tuesday June 24th. On our way home we will be stopping at a project near the border of Haiti. This particular project has about 70 kids. Each child here will receive a new backpack, likely, for most of these children this will be not only the first backpack they have ever had, but also the first new box of crayons they have ever seen. We can't wait to see the joy on their faces. On Tuesday evening we will arrive back at the Anderson's home in Santo Domingo. On Wednesday, we will go to another project. We are not yet sure where this one will be. We may leave Wednesday morning and travel to the other side of he island to visit a project, or go to see our kids at Rancho Arriba, where Kara has been twice before. We won't know until we are there.

Ta-Da! See, it fits! We have one more bag to pack. All together we will have 6 checked bags, five of those bags have supplies and one of those bags has Nicole and Kara's clothes. Our plan right now is to pack together. We haven't acutally done it yet, so we'll see how it goes! We could each be giving new meaning to packing light! All of the children we will be visiting live in extreme poverty, are malnourished and many are not receiving an education because they cannot afford to go to school. We thank everyone SO much for their generous contributions for us to take along with us. Everything--the school supplies, clothing and medications will all be greatly appreciated by these precious little children!