Still searching for the perfect present this holiday or doing last minute shopping? Check out Charity Craft Night.
The event is Friday, besides finding presents for family and friends from different vendors, it is also a fundraiser for a mission trip.
For local moms, Shelley Schafer, Danette Meny, Alysia Medema and Melanie Traver are traveling to El Salvador in May 2011 to drill a well for a village, currently without access to clean water.
The event will help them meet their goal.
Admission is free. Snacks, drinks and wrapping stations are available throughout the night.
Vendors also include London Bridges, offering handcrafted jewelry, and Great Turtle Toys of Independence Township. They will have game stations set up for families to enjoy time together.
“This can be a stressful time of year and we are hoping that by providing a place for families to come and spend some stress-free time together they can enjoy each others company,” said Traver.
“It is perfect for husbands to stop by and get something special for their wife or daughter,” Traver hinted.
Amelia’s Attic Crafts has hairbows, barrettes, and more. Christmas centerpieces are available and handmade from local greens.
“We are partnering with Living Water International again,” said Traver, explaining three of them went to Nicaragua last year as the hygiene team on one of the drilling missions.
On this venture the moms are drilling and Traver and Meny went to Houston in October for their drill training. They also learned how to assemble and operate the LS-100 drill.
“We are really excited to be doing the drilling this time around,” Traver added.
The four chose to help globally because of their love for children.
“It is inexcusable a child dies every 15 seconds in the world due to a lack of clean, safe drinking water and sanitation,” said Traver. “In our community we take for granted the fact we can walk over to our faucets and get life-saving nourishment at the flick of a handle. Our kids can at anytime, anywhere, walk up to a drinking fountain and get a drink of water.”
In other parts of the world it is much different.
The school in Nicaragua they drilled for last year had 800 students, two portable out-houses with no tiolet paper or wash basins and a contaminated hand -dug well.
“It was heartbreaking to see the children using the well, but they had no other option,” said Traver. “Once the well was completed on their site, they finally had a place to get clean water. “
The four will be in El Salvador for an entire week and Traver said it is hard for them to leave their children but they need to continue doing what they can.
“Our hope is as our children grow up, they will have compassion for others and that compassion will take them to wherever hurt and needing people are,” added Traver. “Whether it is in their backyard or on the other side of the world.
For more information, visit www.clarkstonmomsquad.com or send them an email at clarkstonmomsquad@gmail.com.
For more information on the water crisis or about LWI, visit www.water.cc
The event is Friday, 5 p.m.-9 p.m. at Clarkston Free Methodist Church, 5482 Winell St.