Hi everyone!

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

As some of you may or may not know, I went back to school this year to become a massage therapist (MT). A flier for an incredible organization was passed out in class. Heart Touch, a non-profit organization, was looking for massage therapists who would volunteer their time to receive training and deliver compassionate and healing touch to terminally ill or medically fragile homebound/hospitalized men & women as well as infants and children who are terminally ill and in hospice care.

Heart Touch began in 1995 when the founder, Shawnee Isaac Smith's very good friend and fellow body worker, was dying of a terminal illness - AIDS. All of his friends refused to touch or even visit him. Shawnee began to provide him with weekly massage sessions. Just to be touched, he told her, made him feel human again. Most massage therapists were unwilling to touch people with AIDS for fear of contracting the virus. Shawnee, through massage, found a way to comfort her friend during the greatest struggle of his life. Since then, Heart Touch has brought the immeasurable power of touch and healing massage to those impacted by AIDS, to ALS patients, hospice patients, babies in newborn intensive care units and literally thousands around the world.

I signed up, went through the training for both adults and infants & children and have been working with a few courageous and incredible people ever since. Every moment they share with me is a true blessing and it's been a life-changing experience.

I decided to go one step further and volunteer for Heart Touch International. The Heart Touch Project International provides infants & children affected by HIV/AIDS with experiences of caring nurturing touch they often lack. This year the trip is to Cambodia, still very much a third world country with a population heavily affected by the murder, torture and starvation inflicted by the Khmer Rouge. And currently with the high rate of sex trade and sexual exploitation of women and children in this country, the number of orphans left without any family to care for them is devastating. Further, the number of orphans infected by HIV/AIDS and left to care for themselves ousted by extended family because of a lack of education and stigma of the disease is staggering.

These orphans have many needs, both physical and emotional. Dealing with the effects of HIV/AIDS and finding themselves alone and without parents are clearly major traumas. Other basic emotional needs for love and affection need to be met as well. We'll be going to an orphanage set up specifically for orphans infected with HIV/AIDS. New Hope For Cambodian Children (NHCC) is an AIDS orphanage where the children range in age from 0-18 with over 130 orphans in the facility. We hope to provide some comfort to these infants and children who are alone, isolated and untouched in the final days of their lives. We will also be teaching staff & caregivers ways to continue to provide supportive comforting touch to the children in their care. We will also volunteer at two local hospitals with adult and pediatric patients.

Here's an AWESOME video of Heart Touch Cambodia 2008. Please, please, PLEASE WATCH IT!!! It's very short (no where near as long as my letter here), I promise. It shows you exactly where we'll be, what we'll be doing and the children in it are unforgettable.

All the volunteers are required to raise the funds to cover costs for travel, lodging and meals for the time we spend working at the orphanage and hospitals as well as extra going to needed supplies for the children. This is where I need your help.

Times are tough and I know it. If I could send a million dollars to these children in Cambodia I would. Until that day comes (*fingers crossed*), I can give them my time, my heart and two hands. Anything you can donate will be very much appreciated! It's all tax-deductible so as the year closes and you're looking for those charities to make your contributions to, please make your donations here.

Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts.

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!

Thank you so much!

XoXo, Cathy Shim