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| Children everywhere can and do appreciate the meaning of the Thanksgiving tradition. |
Thanksgiving means family dinner and gratitude for loved ones, good health and good fortune. That's what SOS provides every day throughout our 500 villages in 132 countries. SOS mothers provide a constant stability to their SOS children when they serve family meals, share their joy and tears, and encourage their dreams of a bright future.
SOS offers a variety of ways to celebrate Thanksgiving:
A Thanksgiving Story: "Lucia and Her Sister"
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| Lucia and her sister will eat together in an SOS Children's Village this Thanksgiving |
When little Lucia and her sister take their places at the dinner table on November 26, they won't celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving meal as you and I will. But they will have reason to give thanks -- because they will be eating a nutritious meal
together in a loving home environment.
Before coming to SOS Children's Villages in Guatemala, these little girls were in need of basic necessities including food and shelter. Due to poverty, their parents were unable to care for them. Alone on the street, they would have likely become separated from each other.
But, thanks to compassionate SOS Children's Villages supporters, these two girls were welcomed to an SOS Community Center in Cojubal, outside of Guatemala City. Today, they and 60 other children receive attention from 6 SOS Mothers. They attend classes and have space to play during the day. At night, they share meals together much like any two sisters would.
As their SOS mother said: "Children like these girls come with a sort of imaginary tag that reads: 'I have no one; I was rejected.' At SOS they discover for the first time that they are wanted and loved."
Thanks to compassionate SOS Children's Villages supporters, on Thanksgiving, tens of thousands of other children just like Lucia and her sister will also gather at tables around the world with their SOS families and give thanks before eating.
Please consider making a donation to SOS Children's Villages or even sponsoring a child. Your gift will allow us to build families for children like Lucia and her sister. It will help us give them a real home with brothers and sisters and allow them to feel a real sense of family in their villages' communities. Lucia's life could be very different -- even tragic -- if not for friends like you.
