Christian Aid Ministries (CAM) Karen Anna Vogel Guest Post

                Karen Anna Vogel, author of Amish Knitting Circle, will be partnering with Christian Aid Ministries, an Amish and Mennonite charity in Berlin, OH. In all of Karen’s books there’s an Amish knitting circle. The women in her upcoming novel, Knit Together, will be making mittens for children in Eastern European orphanages. A pattern for mittens will be in the book and readers will be invited to make mittens. Christian Aid Ministries has agreed to collect and distribute these mittens all over Eastern Europe.

                “Orphanages are overcrowded in Romania, Ukraine, and Russia and winters are severe and deadly.” Karen said. “My knitting teacher, Susan Grim, owner of SuzyB Knits, came up with the idea, but neither of us has the time to box up mittens to send around the world. We’re thrilled Christian Aid Ministries has agreed to partner with us.”

                If you’ve never heard about Christian Aid Ministries, here’s some info:

Christian Aid Ministries (CAM) is a worldwide Amish and Mennonite charitable organization run by volunteers that log in over 200,000 hours of work a year.  Annual donations made by mostly “plain people” are $116,168,060, according to Charity Navigator.  BUT 98.8% of this money actually goes to ward relief efforts in the US and around the world. (Some charitable organizations give less than 70% to their actual cause)  CAM is run by a volunteer board and has only three paid positions, the top CEO making $45,895 a year. CAM has staff, bases and distribution networks in Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Haiti, Nicaragua, Liberia and Israel.