I first learned about Lillia’s Dream through Paul Steinbrueck’s Living Intentionally blog. I am excited to see anyone who is on fire for the Lord, but get especially excited to see young people live out their faith. Lillia is building houses for Haiti.
Check out her story:
Hi my name is Lillia Marble and I’m 10 years old. You know how sometimes people say kids can’t do much? Well, that’s not true! Do you know what I’m dreaming about? My dream is to help build five houses in Haiti for homeless people. But I’m not just dreaming about it – I’m doing it too!
About two months ago I started this project and at first I was going to raise enough money for one house. But then I thought, “I bet I can do even more!” And you know what? In two months, I’ve already raised $4000! The houses cost $2500 each to build – so I already have enough for almost two houses. That’s pretty exciting.
Maybe you’re wondering how I raised all that money. For Halloween and Christmas, I got $1, but instead of spending it on myself, I added it to my Haiti fund. I thought it was more important to give my money to Haiti than spend it on short-term stuff that I don’t really need. And then all my brothers and sisters did the same thing!
After that, I spoke at several churches and youth groups. My fundraiser project was written about in a couple newspapers in Montana. I took coin jars around to all the businesses in my town for people to contribute their loose change. My grandparents got excited about my project and collected donations at the door of their Christmas party! That party raised $300! My mom and dad also put up information about my project on Facebook.
My dad cleaned out his coin collection and gave me all the extra coins. And some people have even brought HUGE bags of coins to our house! The ladies at the bank have been busy with all the coins I keep bringing in!
Maybe you’re wondering why I started this project. I live in a BIG family – there are 10 kids in all! My mom and dad have adopted seven kids from Ukraine, Russia and Haiti. And then there are three of us birth kids. My sisters from Haiti have told me lots of stories about how poor people are. That really encouraged me to do something to help.
Did you know that the 7.1 earthquake last January left 2 million people homeless in Haiti? They now live in tent cities which isn’t a very safe place to live. Did you know there are two times more homeless people in Haiti than all of the United States?
We have friends who live in Haiti named Shelley and Corrigan Clay. They started a project called The Apparent Project. They are building these $2500 houses for people. The houses are made out of cinder blocks making them hurricane-safe. So when I’m done raising money for the houses, I’m going to send it all to the Clays so they can start building!
We have so much and they have so little, but they still are praising God. You can help me achieve my dreams by sharing the joy with someone in need! Would you please share your spare change and help me achieve my dream? You know what’s really exciting? When my dream comes true – FIVE families in Haiti will also have their dreams come true!
Here’s a little video I made about my project:
Here are some ways “Your Change Brings a Change”:
1. Donate money online using my mom’s fundraiser Paypal account which is marblefamily@idahovandals.com.
2. Send a check made out to Lillia Marble/Haiti House Fundraiser directly to my fundraiser bank account at:
Stockman Bank204 W Bell St., PO Box 491
Glendive MT 59330
3. Share this post on your blog, Twitter or Facebook! Maybe I could write a guest blog on your blog too!
4. Invite me to come speak at your church, youth group, meeting or more!
5. If you have other ideas, please email me at marblefamily@idahovandals.com.
When I corresponded with Lillia’s mom a couple weeks ago, she informed me that Lillia had raised $4600. She also informed me that The Apparent Project can now build a triplex for $5000, so Lillia almost has enough money to build one of those. Lillia’s goal is to build five houses by April 1, 2011, so she is about half way there. Please help me support Lillia’s dream.
How can we encourage children to live out the gospel?
© Natasha L. Robinson 2011
UPDATE: I have reached out to the Marble family on several occasions since the April goal to check status of this project and get an update on the project, but my emails have not been returned.
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