It was just a few years ago when EAC Executive Director Margaret A. Cole asked a simple question at an orphanage in Eastern Europe: "How often do the little children go outside in he winter?" She was told they couldn't because they did not have snowsuits.

On the plane trip home, she didn't sleep. Instead, she developed a plan. We would ask the EAC parents and families to donate new or gently used snowsuits, gloves, boots and hats, and EAC would ship them to Russia and Kazakhstan. A simple idea grew into an overwhelming response. Over 3000 snowsuits were donated! And with them came infant and toddler clothing, small soft toys for cribs, diapers and infant formula, toddler vitamins, and educational toys so that children from all the countries where EAC provides adoption services would benefit: Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and Romania.

For three years, these wonderful gifts were lovingly and carefully sorted, packaged and sent with parents traveling to complete their own adoptions and also in larger shipments that went to the regions where EAC provided services and could assure assistance with the distribution of the gifts.

Then, increased shipping charges became an issue, and the packages we sent were getting larger, and - we found out that our American dollars had greater purchasing power in other countries. So our direct donor program has become the primary way we support the orphans and orphanages.

Keeping Faith With Our Commitment