We’re no stranger to celebrations and cakes at Love & Hope – we’ve celebrated over 250 birthdays! – but yesterday was something different: Love & Hope turned 10. It’s been quite a journey these past 10 years. Some of you have been around since the beginning, and many of you have joined us along the way. You have all blessed us in one way or another through giving your time, talents, resources, and prayers. We wish you all could have been here to join with us in celebrating 10 great years.
Even though it was a school night, we decided to have a good time. After school, all the kids worked quickly to finish their homework and their chores so we could join our friends at Focus Services for a party. They brought in a fancy cake, collected lots of toiletries for us, and rented a soccer field near their office so we could have a friendly game of free-for-all fútbol. The teams were a constantly changing mix of young and old, tios and tias, gringos, and our friends at Focus.
Once we had burned off all the energy from the cake, we headed home for a Love & Hope trivia competition. The kids split into four groups with each group having a tio or tia, an older girl, an older boy, and a mix of younger kids. Everyone enjoyed thinking back to some of Love & Hope’s earliest years and testing their memories. Who was the youngest when they arrived? Who was the oldest? Who broke the first bone? Who was our first Tia? How many pets have we had? (See the full list of trivia questions below and test your own memory!) Before the night was over everyone was laughing and screaming answers at each other. We even had to change a few answers after the kids remembered a few things we had forgotten!
To cap off the night, we ordered pizza and sat down to watch a slideshow of old photos. The kids ooh’d, awe’d, and laughed at old pictures of themselves and each other.
We’ve made a lot of great memories over the last 10 years. 10 years from now, we’ll be looking back at last night as another one of the those great memories.
See the answers below.
- What date was Love & Hope started?
- Where did Love and Hope start?
- Who was the first Tio and the first Tia at Love & Hope?
- How old was Mami when Love & Hope started?
- Who was the first child to break a bone at Love & Hope?
- Who was the oldest child to come to Love & Hope?
- Who was the youngest child to come to Love & Hope?
- Which couples spent time together at Love & Hope and are now married?
- Which states and countries have we had visitors from?
- How many vehicles have we had at Love & Hope?
- How many homes has Love & Hope had?
- How many kids have lived at Love & Hope?
- What was the name of the first school that kids from Love & Hope attended?
- How many kids have the “Love & Hope Scar” on their forehead?
- Who was the most recent child to come to Love & Hope?
- How many pets have we had?
- Who was the youngest Tia to work at Love & Hope?
- Which staff member has the most siblings?
- October 23rd, 2003
- Nejapa
- Hermano Gilberto and his daughter Yanira
- 20
- Leodina
- Julio
- Jeremiah was 25 hours old. Milagro was 10 days. Raul was 20 days old.
- Doug and Allison, Manuel and Alyssa, Joe and Linda, Tia Eunice and Daniel, Tati and Tony, Will and Tia Marisol, Gloria and Samuel, Oso and Evelyn
- Ohio, Illinois, New York, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Washington, Hawaii, Georgia, Michigan, Puerto Rico, Canada, England, Germany, Sweden, Uganda, Vietnam, Australia, Holland
- 11 – 2 pickups, 3 Coasters, 1 Van, 2 Microbuses, 1 SUV, 1 Car, 1 Paratransit Bus
- 3
- 37
- Francisco Morazon
- 7
- Antonio
- 38 (including our chickens!)
- Tia Larixa
- Tia Yessenia