Piper's Friends Playground Fund

Organized by Piper's Friends Fund
Welcome Friends!
Our Mission:

We have started a playground fund for the many friends that Piper left behind in the Relief Center in Vietnam where Piper spent the first nine months of her life. Many of these children will not be adopted, and will grow up at this center.

The Relief Center is a place that is very full of love; however there aren't many toys for the children to play with.

Piper has more of everything than she could possibly need, therefore, we ask that in lieu of any gifts for Piper that you instead consider making a donation to help us build a playground for her friends back at the Relief Center in Vietnam.

It is our wish that her new friends here will join together to help the friends she left behind find joy and the art of play.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How do I make a tax-deductible donation? - If you would like a receipt to use for tax purposes, please forward your paypal receipt to nicolelorentz @ gmail . com (remove spaces). Please include your mailing address and I will send you a receipt as soon as our goal has been met and the money has been donated to our non-profit agency.

What happens to the funds after they are collected? - I will keep the funds safe in a designated paypal account until our goal has been met. At that point, they will be transferred to our adoption Agency's Account so that we can begin the project.

What happens if there are any remaining funds after the project is completed? - Any remaining funds will be donated directly to the Relief Center to be used for basic necessities and school supplies. 100% of this fund will go to the children.

Who the heck is your agency? - Our adoption agency is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of orphaned and abandoned children in Vietnam. Their goals are to improve the lives of these children through relief efforts, education, vocational training, and to increase the adoptions of older and handicapped or "special needs" children. Assistance is provided in the areas of food, shelter, clothing, medical care and supplies. They believe that if they can provide assistance in these areas, they can improve these children's chances of leading healthy, productive lives.

This project is also the adoption agency we used to adopt our baby girl, Piper. We have become very familiar with them in the past 2 years during our adoption and trust them completely. We are all very excited to work on this project together!

Why The Relief Center in Vietnam? - The Relief Center in Vietnam is where our daughter spent the first 9 months of her life. Piper was well taken care of by her nannies and was most certainly loved. The facility is an all-ages facility, meaning that there are babies, toddlers, children and elderly people living there. There are also a large number of special needs children that will grow up there. It is a community in itself that offers relief to those in need. There are many children there that are unable to be cared for by their parents, however they are not fully relinquished and just basically 'live' at this center. These kids are able to go to school and their parents visit them as often as they can, however they receive their food, shelter and basic care from the relief center. The center mostly relies on donations to survive. Food, formula, diapers, clothing and medicines are among the necessities needed to keep the center up and running.

How will this playground be built and who will actually do it? - We are still working out the final details of how this project will be completed, however it WILL be completed. We are excited about working with the founder of our agency and their in-country facilitator on this project. We will continue to post updates and any information about how the project is going on this page so check back often!

Please know that we are absolutely dedicated to finishing this project for our friends at the Relief Center. They have all touched our hearts deeply and we cannot wait to give them something that will bring them some joy in return!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
Darren, Nicole and Piper
Recent Additions to the Relief Center
This is an addition that our agency recently added to the Relief Center. This addition gives more room for the nannies and the children to live. It is a small example of the amazing work that our agency has done at the orphanages all over Vietnam.



{beautiful, isn't it?}



{such an improvement!}



{a building that gives hope}
The Relief Center


{The first glimpse of a hallway}



{Laundry Room}



{Children's clothes drying by the river}



{more laundry}



{labeled rack - every baby has a place for their bottles and belonging}

Paypal and Contribution Questions
I have had a few questions about Paypal and making contributions, so I thought I would post the answers here.

Can I contribute without having a paypal account? YES!! When you click on the orange ChipIn button on the right, you should be directed to a page that gives you the option to either log into a Paypal account (on the right side of the page) or pay with a credit or debit card (on the left side of the page) without having a Paypal account. If the paying with a credit or debit card option does not show up, you may need to clear your browsers 'Cache' or Temporary Internet Files. You may also need to delete your browsers Cookies. If you're not sure how to do that, you can use the Help section of your browser, or email me and I can walk you through it.

I just made a contribution. Why isn't it showing up? If you made a contribution through Paypal either via instant transfer or credit card, your donation was instant. However, the counter only updates itself every 5 minutes, so it may take a few minutes for it to show up.

If you paid via Paypal e-check, your donation won't show up until the e-check clears. Banks usually take 3-5 days to clear e-checks. Don't worry, the system has logged your donation and there is a record of it. It will show up on the counter as soon as it has cleared!

A note on Internet Explorer - For some reason I have to delete the Temporary Internet Files in order to see the change in number of contributions, even if I refresh the screen. I do not seem to be having this problem with Mozilla Firefox.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions!

A big thank you to those of you that have already contributed even though they aren't all showing up because of the e-checks! Your help is truly appreciated!
The Children


{beautiful girls}



{having a chat}



{the handsome boys enjoying some candy brought by the visitors}



{listening closely}



{big smile}



{the current play area for the children}



{where the boys hang out}

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