This Sunday Kandrac & Kole goes to Guatemala for our long awaited annual trip to work for Catalyst Resources International!  This is my fifth trip and Joann's first to Guatemala as I lead a team of thirteen including college friends, designer colleagues and family members to live for a week in Guatemala City and work in the outlaying village of Labor de Falla.

 I'm so excited because it's not only a time for us to unplug and to serve the Lord, but it's a time for me to bond with my daughter Riley before she goes off to her first year of college, to reunite with my college roommate Jen and her daughter Elise who live in Philadelphia, to hug my BFF Debbie and her daughter Callie who I haven't seen in 4 years and live in Virginia, to laugh with my awesome designer friend Pamela Copeman from Boston who joined me last year, and to catch up with my niece Julie from N.J. who I haven't seen in 6 years. I could go on and on about our amazing team.

Photo courtesy of Catalyst Resources International 

I'm looking forward to building a small three bedroom home for a deserving family who has never had a proper home with windows, a roof and a door that locks.

 I'm looking forward to building ONIL stoveswith the generous donations given to us by Rebecca Reynolds and the Kitchen Design Network and my college roommates Jennifer Bastian and Sarah Dale.

Note: It is common for families to burn trash or whatever they can find to build an open fire on dirt floors to cook their food inside their small homes where there is zero ventilation.  This causes families to inhale dangerous fumes causing acute respiratory infections. An ONIL stove contains the fire in a clay-fired firebox in an insulated, durable stove thats sits off the floor and minimizes the risk of burns to small children. The best part? These ONIL stoves only cost $150!

I can't wait to give out shoes to a family near and dear to my heart that we built a home for three years ago.

I know my daughter Riley and the other teens on our trip will have a blast playing with the kids in the village (it's amazing the fun you can have with lumber scraps!)

The positive support, uplifting messages, heartfelt prayers and financial donations from our friends, families and colleagues have made this trip possible.

A BIG THANK YOU and A HUGE HUG to everyone for their donations so that we could purchase all of the materials to build a house and to purchase stoves, water purification systems, shoes, food and needed medical supplies.

We had an amazing show of support from our interior design network including love from Rebecca Reynolds (The Kitchen Design Network), Holly Blalock (C.R. Laine), Jeffrey Johnson,  Julianne Taylor (Taylor Burke Home), Andrew Joseph (Andrew Joseph PR), Leslie Carothers (The Kaleidoscope Partnership), Mitzi Beach, Ivy deLeon, Jennifer Meditash (Dec-a-Porter),  Jackie VonTobel, Linda Holt, Cindy Hughes (Jeremiah Consulting), Amanda Kinney (Antique and Design Center of HighpointD), Sharon Hindson, Emily Followill, Kimberley Seldon, Dale Contant (Atlanta Design Build), Insidesign, Kelli Ellis and Lori Dennis (Design Camp), Kelly Kardian (Spiffy Stuff), Lisa Mowry, Mary Ann DiMarzio (Mimi & Emma's), Vicki Bolick (The Ace of Space) andCaren Danneman.

If you would like to donate to our team efforts, you can still do so. Please donate directly to CRI HERE and mention "Kelly Kole's Team" in the description of your donation. 

We obviously have a lot of work to do and a lot to look forward to next week!

Stay tuned for updates and photos!

God Bless!

Kelly and Joann