Time for action, you can make a difference

Hi everyone, most of you have followed me from the beginning, last July to be exact, when I visited Vietnam, and was inspired to create a charity for children with disabilities in developing countries. Ability Beyond the Horizon, *http://www.abilitybeyondthehorizon.org* was created with your help, ideas and support. Without your encouragement, I would never have thought I could make this happen.

We now have a fully functioning non profit corporation in Florida. We have a powerful, capable, and devoted board of directors. We have two projects blossoming in two different countries, India, and Vietnam, all in less than a year. Ability Beyond the Horizon will make huge differences in the lives of children with disabilities, with your support, these children may be able to attend school with their non-disabled peers. What this means is that children with disabilities will have an opportunity to be successful in their communities and in life. We are beginning with visual impairments, but we plan to expand to support infants and toddlers of all disabilities, so that every child with a disability may have the greatest opportunity for success.

Money from the developed world, like the US and Europe, is incredibly powerful. You can hire a teacher in Vietnam for part time work, for a month for $40. That teacher will be able to work with 10-15 students. Many people think that because they are not Wall Street gazillionaires that they can't make a difference. In the developing world, any contribution, even $10 has an impact. Our first goal is to get the $750 that the US government requires to file for 501(c)3 status, which allows all contributions to be tax deductible and for us to apply for grants. We have 400 in the bank from contributions already, thanks to those who gave in advance. We NEED to get to $750 first, then your money will go to hiring staff in Vietnam and India, setting up operations in those countries, and getting me over there to recruit and educate. I am working for free for Ability Beyond the Horizon, but there are operating expenses. I know the economy is difficult right now, any contribution you can make will be unbelievably appreciated. Lets show people that we can make a difference, even when times are scary, we will still make a difference where it is needed. This is your chance to have an impact on the world's stage.

In the developing world, people with disabilities often have no opportunities for the same things we take for granted every day, like an education, or a supportive family that believes they are capable of success, where would you be if you did not have that opportunity? With our help, and a quality education with their non disabled peers, these children can move closer to having the opportunities we all enjoy.

Many of you have contacted me along the way to ask me how you can help. We're building a ship of opportunity to take people in the developing world beyond the limitations of their horizon, so that those with disabilities can become part of their society in meaningful ways. We have built the first ship, its small, but capable, and more will follow. We have gathered the crew; now we need your help to provide the power to get it sailing, your support will put wind in the sails. You can donate directly from the website, at the Get Involved link at the top of the page. Its through Paypal, which is the same bank Ebay uses. You can also send a check made out to Ability Beyond the Horizon, 5789 St. Joe Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32311

If you have any questions at all, please write me here, or call me at 850-766-2814.

Lets make a difference for children with disabilities, lets do our part to provide education and opportunity to those who live in countries without the means to allow for the success of people with disabilities. In addition to your financial support, you can also make a HUGE difference by telling the people you know, your word of mouth is priceless. Forward this message onto your friends, and friends of your friends. This is an email forward to be proud of. Be sure to remove the FW: from the subject line when passing this along, as people tend to just delete those. I know we can do it, and I look forward to moving toward success for these children with your support.

~Mickey

Ability Beyond the Horizon is growing by LEAPS and BOUNDS!

My apologies for how long its been since an update on the idea formerly known as the "Vietnam Project" and now formally referred to as Ability Beyond the Horizon. These past couple months have been explosive for ABH, I'd like to bring you up to speed so you can be as excited as I am.

We're now a registered not for profit corporation in the state of Florida. Thanks to Jake Kiker of Williams, Gautier, Gwynn, Deloach & Sorenson, P.A., we now have a fully fleshed out corporation, he and his staff have done incredible things in a very short while for the children of Vietnam, and for no pay.

In addition to becoming a fully realized corporation, we also have an incredible board of directors. I will introduce you to them in the next update, but its a dream team of six individuals plus myself, who are pillars in their respective fields of expertise, and we are so fortunate to have them and their broad range of talents working on Ability Beyond the Horizon.

Thanks to a good friend who I had lost touch with until very recently, we also have dedicated web space now. Vikram Aggarwal of http://www.mayin.org/aragorn/ has generously donated 3 years of web hosting for Ability Beyond the Horizon in order to ensure its success. Couple that generosity with that of Shawn Laasch and his web designing abilities, and Ability Beyond the Horizon will have a website to be proud of very soon!

To update you on our mission, we're thinking globally here. This started with just helping kids in the city of Hue, Vietnam that were visually impaired, and is quickly evolving. Ability Beyond the Horizon is thinking larger than that, we're looking at helping kids with disabilities in developing nations around the world. Vietnam is the first step, but children with disabilities all over the developing world can use our help, and as I've mentioned before, the little expense of it means that even those of us that are hardest hit by the economy can make a huge difference in these children's lives. Our money still is in some cases 10 times as powerful as their own currency. By doing so, you will actually be impacting the next generation of the world's population. Not just the children themselves, but the perceptions of the people around them, this will have a domino effect in the entire culture.

Our work here will directly increase peace, awareness, and compassion in the world. I will tell you how you can help very soon. Thank you to everyone for your continuing support, if we stay moving at this pace, and we will, we will have a full "roll out" of Ability Beyond the Horizon by end of March. I'm so glad you all have been here from the beginning to encourage the process along, and I look forward to your continued support as we see where this idea spawned in a coffee shop in Vietnam less than a year ago, takes us all.

~Mickey