The Main Event by Memory Makers Event Planning, LLC

We in America are blessed with homes, food, clothing, cars, access to education and many other things we take for granted. Much of the world's population lives in dire poverty and filth, wondering where the next meal will come from or who might break into the dirt-floored hut they call home. To help us privileged Americans begin to grasp the reality of poverty in developing nations, Compassion International ( www.compassion.com ) developed the Compassion Experience, two large trailers containing the stories of children, now adults, whose lives were changed because they were sponsored children. As you walk through the Experience, you can see and hear what is real life for many of the world's children.

For seven years Memory Makers Event Planning has sponsored a child in Honduras with Compassion International . I recently had the opportunity to make my second trip to spend time with the adorable Nelson. Twenty-two of us first flew into San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras where we spent time at two projects, including one with a Child Survival Center, where pregnant women and those with children up to age three can receive prenatal care, medical care for the delivery, nutrition and child rearing counseling and support. (Nearly 50 percent of children under 5 in Honduras die, most from birth-related complications. Pneumonia is the second leading cause of death.) We then drove to the capital, Tegucigalpa, to visit another project and spend a day with sponsored children at a jump park filled with large inflatable jumps. (My elbow still hurts from a burn received on the big slide.) Nelson came with his mother and his new baby sister, 40 days old. What a delight it was to see how Nelson h...

Since their introduction in 1924 by Chicago department store Marshall Field's, gift registries have become an accepted part of weddings and baby events. They have also become a major source of controversy and etiquette faux pas. When is a registry acceptable and when is it not? Will it be used? When do you register? For what should you register? How do you notify guests of a registry without coming across as greedy? Creating a registry is acceptable when an event at which gifts are usually given will occur, such as a wedding, a bridal or baby shower or a birth. Today, with the internet and access to national retail registries, most anyone living anywhere can register for gifts. That doesn't mean, however, that the registry will be used. People living in small rural communities where retail outlets are scarce and internet access is not readily available may need to drive a great distance to reach a major retailer with a registry and they don...

For nearly six years Memory Makers Event Planning has sponsored a child in Honduras through Compassion International . Recently, I had the opportunity to visit with Nelson, his mom and his tutor. It was such a blessing to finally meet this sweet young man. He lives in extreme poverty in one of the most dangerous areas in the world in a one-room home without running water with his parents, two siblings, grandmother and five (yes, five) uncles. As a sponsored child, Nelson is able to attend school and to receive at least one healthy meal and snack each day. He and his siblings have access to medical and dental care, loving mentors and supporters and other resources. He can grow up healthy and educated, equipped with the tools to enable him to break the cycle of generational poverty so prevalent in his country. You or your business may want to consider sponsoring a needy child in an undeveloped or underdeveloped area of the world. For ...