[HeartStrongList] Outreach Trip Update

[heartstrong at heartstrong.org]

Hi Everyone,

How do you think it would feel to be 14, get kicked out of your
Seventh-day Adventist school, and when you get home, your parents strip
you naked and kick you out into the street?

It doesn't feel good, thats for sure.   And, this is exactly what happened
to a boy not to long ago.

At one of our recent educational forums a man described finding this boy
naked on their front porch.

Fortunately the boy chose their house as they were able to get him the
help he needed.

I wish I could say that I have never heard such a horrifying story,
however, it's not the first time.

After his mother kicked him out of his house a year earlier at age 16, one
of the students who came to us for help returned home.  The first words
his mother said were, "I've been praying for the past year that you would
be hit by a big mack truck.  What are you doing here?" And then she kicked
him out again.

One of the students who came to HeartStrong for help had been expelled
from his religious university in Tennessee and his mother refused to come
onto the school property to pick him up.  She claimed she was too
humiliated to be seen by others.  She demanded her son meet her two miles
up the interstate at a rest area if he wanted a ride back home.  So, he
walked the interstate with his belongings from his dorm room as a
desperate attempt to get out of the university town.

I am sickened every time I think about that student making that walk of
shame.

The good thing is that like many many others, he found HeartStrong. 
Instead of thoughts of emotional and physical suicide, he found the path
to self acceptance.

This is our 20th outreach trip since January of 1998.  We've self driven
ourselves more than 350,000 miles around the US and Canada.  We've
provided hope and help directly to 1005 students and indirectly to many
others.

We are only able to do this because people like you support our work.  We
still need a couple thousand dollars to cover the cost of this outreach
trip as well as raise funds for our work in 2008.  We are hoping that 2008
will be the first year that HeartStrong will be able to raise all of the
money for our budgeted work.

The only way that can happen is through the giving of HeartStrong Friends
such as yourself.

Giving is easy.  You can mail your donation to HeartStrong at HeartStrong,
PO Box 2051, Seattle, WA 98111.  Or, you can make your donation online at
http://www.heartstrong.org.  Additionally, you can call me directly to
make your donation at 206-388-3894.

All donations are tax deductible.  93.3% of every dollar goes directly to
outreach programs.  HeartStrong is an all volunteer 501 (c)(3) educational
nonprofit organization.

Thanks for your support!

Marc Adams
Executive Director