What a surprise it was for us to watch the news tonight and see that the What’s Right With Tampa Bay segment highlighting a different project.

Based on the phone calls that we have already received, we know many of you were watching for the segment about Clouds of Hope and the Dream Calendar.  We’ll find out when the segment is “re”scheduled to run and let you know.

Tuesday night January 20th, Fox 13 will be airing a segment on the 6 PM news about the Dream Calendar.    Please tune in to hear about the calendar and goal for building a community inclusive adaptable playground.  If you are unable to watch the news, you can always check the Fox 13 website where the post stories once they have run

Fox 13 – What’s Right with Tampa Bay

If you haven’t gotten a calendar yet, there’s still a few left.  Order one online today from http://www.thedreamcalendar.com

Thanks so much for everysones help in catching and casting the vision and dream of Clouds of Hope.

Mark your calendars for Friday and Saturday, March 13 and 14.

We will be hosting a Friday night family night – including a glow in the dark golf tournament - at the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club.  The Golf Tournament will involve adults and children – a family style event where each twosome will get pledges to sponsor their play!  And…there will be food, fun, and raffles!  You won’t want to miss it!  If you want to be a part of this – contact us at cloudsofhope@verizon.net.

Then…on Saturday night, we are planning a Gala event at the Golf and Country Club where Clouds of Hope will share our heart for our ministry!  We are excited about where God is leading us.  One of our big projects in 2009 will be to help Temple Terrace build two adaptable playgrounds so that each child can play -regardless of ability.  However, the bigger picture involves Clouds of Hope being able to reach out to many families in our community who are dealing with life altering illnesses!

Keep your eyes on this site for more information!  Be sure to sign up for the RSS feed, so you don’t miss any information we post!

Also, we can use a lot of help! So…if you think you might be interested in lending a hand, let us know at  cloudsofhope@verizon.net!

What a busy – and hopefully successful – weekend for Clouds of Hope this is going to be.

Saturday December 6 – Come meet Annie Agarwal and the wonderful children that are highlighted in the Dream Calendar at International Christian Bookstore in the Sherwood Forest Shopping Center (10919 N. 56th Street).

If you’re not able to make it, check back later and we’re sure to have some great pictures of the day.

Sunday December 7 –  Premier Jewelry Consultant, Charity Chapman will sponsor a Jewelry Show at Cilantro’s Restaurant in Temple Terrace from 2 until 4 (11009 N. 56th Street).  All proceeds from this event will also go towards Clouds of Hope and our efforts to reach families dealing with life altering illnesses!  Make plans to attend and buy some awesome jewelry – and at the same time help Clouds of Hope!!!  If you’re not able to attend and you’d like to purchase some jewelry simply send us an email (cloudsofhope@verizon.net) and we’ll be sure to include your order.

We are excited to begin our fundraising efforts for 2009!  Clouds of Hope is looking forward to helping many families with life altering illnesses during the upcoming year!  However, our success depends on your help!  Are you up for a challenge?

Our first fundraising effort is the Dream Calendar, sponsored by Annie Agarwal Photography.  This calendar features 12 families who are dealing with life altering illnesses who will benefit from an adaptable playground in the Temple Terrace Area.   Calendars are $10.00 each and can be purchased online at www.thedreamcalendar.com.  They are also available at International Christian Bookstore in the Sherwood Forest Shopping Plaza on 56th Street.*

There is a special day planned for Saturday, December 6 at International Christian Bookstore to kick off the dream calendar and to offer an opportunity for you to meet the dreamers – Annie Agarwal and the kids featured in the calendar.  More details will follow…..

On Sunday, December 7, Premier Jewelry Consultant, Charity Chapman, will sponsor a Jewelry Show at Cilantro’s Restaurant in Temple Terrace from 2 until 4.  All proceeds from this event will also go towards Clouds of Hope and our efforts to reach families dealing with life altering illnesses!  Make plans to attend and buy some awesome jewelry – and at the same time help Clouds of Hope!!!

Then…soon we will unveil our plans for a Sponsor A Square program to benefit the Playgrounds we are helping to build in the Temple Terrace Area. The surfacing of adaptable playgrounds is the most expensive part of the project.   We are working out the details and when we have the specifics we will let you all know.

One final big event we are working on is a weekend event in March that will involve a unique golf tournament, a parade for the park, and hopefully a Banquet to celebrate our success!!!! 

So for the most part, we just wanted you all to know what to look forward to in the next couple of months.  We are busy with planning and if any of you have any input or suggestions – please let us know!  Also, if you are willing to serve on any of the committees for this planning process, let us know as well!

***For those of you who live in Jacksonville or Sarasota, we wanted to offer you a chance to order your calendars through our family there so you won’t have to pay shipping and handling.

Jacksonville orders can go through Paula Suhey, rsuhey@bellsouth.net or Rebecca England, rengland@unf.edu.  We will be making a trip to Jacksonville for Thanksgiving so we can easily get them to you.

Sarasota orders can go through Margaret Blain, sisis2@verizon.net. 

Thanks for your support!

The Dream Calendar is finished and has been delivered.  We are so excited about how this has turned out.  Annie has done a fantastic job capturing the kids and their smiles.   Each month features a child with a special need who will benefit from an adaptable playground.  Annie has found a way to share each child’s story and connect their story with a dream….  It really is amazing!

She is working on setting up locations where the calendars can be purchased and also setting it up so that they can be purchased online.  We are tentatively scheduled for a “Meet the Dreamers” celebration on Saturday, December 6.  We will fill you in on all the details as we work them out!

It is so exciting to see the dream of Clouds of Hope become a reality and to be able to share that dream with so many others.   God has given us an incredible opportunity to reach out to so many families who are dealing with life altering illnesses.  We feel blessed to be able to be a part of it.

Thanks for sharing our dream with us!

As we take a huge step forward in partnerning with the City of Temple Terrace to provide an adaptable playground for children of all abilities, we have received support from a local photographer.  Annie Agarwal has chosen Clouds of Hope to be the beneficiary of the proceeds from her dream calendar.  She is gathering support from local business to sponsor the calendar which will highlight children from the Temple Terrace community that would benefit from an adaptable playground.

You can read about the calendars development and the progress on Annie’s website.   http://annieagarwal.com/thedreamcalendar/

We are really excited about this opportunity and look forward to the idea of an adaptable playground – or two – becoming a reality.

Let us know what you think and continue to check back as we’ll keep posting more about the calendar and the playground development.

We are so excited that Donald has arrived and we are planning a fun welcoming party at the Clinic within the next couple of weeks. 

Thank you to all who made this dream a reality for Allie and for Clouds of Hope.  We are excited that this is just the beginning of new and exciting things to come!

Be on the lookout for more information about an adaptable playground in the city of Temple Terrace!