So check it out- our friends Dan and Bethany are friends with the guys who started this nifty website called giftcardgiver.com.  Ever heard of it?  No? Me neither.  That is, until a few months ago when Dan and Bethany decided to have a “house party” to help out with Guatemala. 

 

They had a par-tay at church for the post-college/pre-mini-van crowd.  The unique thing about this party was that each of the guests had to bring an old, mostly used gift card. Dan, Bethany, and the other leaders then sent all the random $0.10 Olive Garden cards and $2.23 JCPenney cards they collected into the giftcardgiver people. Giftcardgiver.com sent back cards (loaded with various and equally random amounts of cash) that could be used to help buy supplies for Guate.  Pretty cool, huh?  Jody used the Walmart-type cards to buy goodies for the kids, but she passed the office supply stores (Staples, Office Max, etc) on to us to use for Foreign eXchange. 

 

 

We used the cards to buy printer paper (which happened to be on sale for $1, with a mail-in rebate. Cha ching.) construction paper, neon index cards, nametags, metal fasteners, print credits at the print shop, and a paper cutter.  We spent an afternoon listening to talk radio and sorting through our handiwork, but in the end we came out with almost 75 packets to give to the amigos who have signed up to love on the boys at Eliza Martinez and San Gabriel.  Pretty cool, huh? Just another way that God has provided the resources necessary to accomplish the work that needs to be done!