If you think transforming life’s lemons into lemonade is an inspiring feat,

imagine converting an abandoned wedding reception into a joyous—and charitable—celebration.

Photo by CrayonMonkey via Flickr

That’s exactly what Carol and Bill Fowler of Atlanta managed to accomplish last month, after their daughter’s wedding was cancelled six weeks shy of the meticulously planned ceremony.

“My husband actually prayed about it,” Carol Fowler recalls. “The next morning he woke, I was in the process of canceling the venue, letting them know that we had no use for it, and he said, ‘No, we’re going to call Hosea Feed the Hungry and have them round up people from the shelters.'”

The Fowlers’ children had volunteered with Hosea Feed the Hungry, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that works to bolster families in need, so they knew it was just the place to turn for assistance.

Carol was crazy about the idea. After all, she says, “We were going to spend this money anyway!”

When the couple called Hosea Feed the Hungry, proposing an elaborate party for local homeless families, the organization was skeptical.

“At first I thought it was a prank call. I thought somebody was joking with us,” admits Elizabeth Omilami, Hosea’s chief executive officer.

But the Fowlers and Omilami wasted no time gathering a guest list of 200 people, most of them women with children, for an afternoon meal at Villa Christina, an upscale local restaurant.

Omilami arranged bus transport from three area shelters to the restaurant, where attendees were treated to fabulous food and lots of kid-friendly entertainment courtesy of a clown, juggler, and face painter.

Photo courtesy of Alvin Evans via Today.com

The whole Fowler family attended the celebration as well. “The feeling was one you cannot explain, to see the faces and hear their thank yous,” Carol commented. “[Our daughter] was also very delighted to see and know that others had an opportunity to enjoy something, rather than just allow it to go to waste.”

Photo courtesy of Hosea Feed the Hungry via Here and Now

Julie Bilecky, sales and marketing director of Villa Christina, said, “Carol and Bill did a phenomenal job of giving back to the community. It could have been difficult situation, but everyone worked together to make it a different kind of party. It was fabulous.”

The event, which has become known as “The First Annual Fowler Family Celebration of Love,” was such a sweet success that the Fowlers hope to hold a similar affair year after year.

Carol credits divine intervention for the advent of a new Atlanta tradition. “We feel that this is something that God would like us to do because obviously, we did not set out to do this.”

g-o-i-n’ to the c-h-a-p-e-l of love … 

Ah, wedded bliss … or should I say wedding bliss?

Photo by Veronidae via Wikimedia Commons

The moment so many young women dream of—gorgeous groom, perfect setting … oh, and the DRESS, the dress, the dress …

Photo by David Ball via Wikimedia Commons

Hold that thought.

What if …

the dress could be even more dreamy?

Possible?

Indeed.

Marcelia Muehlke has made it so.

Continue reading →

There is nothing more glorious than a good cause,

except …

(stay with me here)

a good cause that is launched by a child like Neha Gupta.

Neha was only 9 years old in 2005 when she created Empower Orphans, a grassroots campaign devoted to helping orphaned children cultivate self-sufficiency around the globe.

Photo courtesy of Empower Orphans

Among Neha’s family, it has been a tradition to celebrate birthdays by taking food and gifts to orphaned children in their hometown in India. Although Neha has grown up in the United States, she has had the opportunity to travel to India and participate in this tradition.

Photo courtesy of Empower Orphans

The experience of meeting kids who had no families was life-changing for young Neha.

“I remember the moment that I was talking to a girl of the same age; she wore tattered clothes and her face was covered in a thin black layer of dirt,” Neha, now 17, recalls in an article she wrote for the Huffington Post. “As she showed me around the orphanage, we first went to her room. It wasn’t exactly her room though … she shared it with 10 other girls. As I walked in, all I saw was an empty room with a single sheet on the ground. I asked in a confused manner, ‘This is where you sleep? Where is your bed?’ She looked down as she spoke and said, ‘This is our bed … We sleep on the ground. It does get very cold in the winter, but we manage.’ I was absolutely shocked.”

Sympathy wasn’t enough for Neha, though.

She needed to act.

Her passion to help blossomed into Empower Orphans, which aims to provide orphans with better healthcare, food, clothing, educational opportunities, and useful items so they can find a path from helplessness toward becoming fully capable human beings.

Neha has raised more than $1,000,000 so far for the creation of libraries and computer labs as well as the donation of water-purification systems, sewing machines, bicycles, and more to hundreds of kids.

Her current efforts that need funding include:

• Creating … a low-cost smart board to bring Internet access directly into classrooms
• Starting … a computer lab at Shiv Shakti School
• Expanding … a science lab for underprivileged children
• Providing … school fees to an additional 200 children
• Expanding … a sewing center to train another 200 girls

“I love helping these children so much! It is an amazing feeling to see the change that you can make in their lives as they grow,” Neha says. “I am definitely very happy with how much my efforts have grown; of course I am hoping that we keep growing and that more people see how important it is to help these children.”

If you would like to help Neha accomplish her gloriously good cause, you can make a direct donation (as little as $25 can educate a child for an entire year), purchase specific items for orphans, or you can buy handmade gifts from the Empower Orphans online store. One hundred percent of the profits are donated directly to the children that need them.