And yet another one got married!

And yet another one got married!

During this time where the line “and yet another…” seems to be filling our evening news, usually about something bad, we are thrilled to be able to steal that phrase for good news — yet another member of our beloved ACE family has reason to celebrate! Katie Guy, former intern and long-term volunteer, is now Katie Lowery!

Katie and her now-husband TJ tied the knot outdoors on a beautiful day in an Ohio garden. Remembering Katie when she was twelve years old and following her dad, Dr. Steve Guy, around at ACE in Jamaica brought us back to how important making a personal investment into people, not things, can really be. Katie is no longer the young-soon-to-be teenager; she is now a beautiful young lady that not only loves TJ but Jesus.

With the ACE US staff and a few other familiar faces and previous volunteers there to celebrate, the event ended up being a small reunion of years of ACE friendships all packaged together into one perfect evening. A fun fact: Katie’s mom’s maiden name was Lowery!

Congratulations, Katie!

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Our Children In St. Mary

Our Children In St. Mary

With this “stay close to home” policy, how can we know if our children and their families are doing okay or have needs?   After discussions with the Child Sponsorship team on how we can continue our impact and support from us and from you, their sponsors, we have a plan.

Beginning this week, we are calling all parents and guardians of children in our Sponsorship program to see how they are doing, where they are staying and how many are in the house – just a small survey in regards to health and welfare. With the cancellation of our teams, we decided that instead of holding a thrift sale this month (we normally hold three a year – March, July, and November), ACE would put an individual suitcase together for each child and other relatives living in the house. Next week, D’Vaun and Laneka will drive to the house and deliver the suitcase (in the yard, of course) and then sit outside to visit, encourage and, most of all, pray for the family.  We will be delivering lots of soap, toiletries, and women’s personal products.

See how valuable your donations have become to those in need? We know you will be back soon, so please keep saving those toiletries, soaps, shampoos and ladies’ pads. Thank you, also, for so many books you’ve given us over the years. We are taking two age-appropriate books per child and reading them from the yard while visiting, then leaving them with the family along with some simple activities to enjoy while they are home.