All she wants for Christmas is a sister, blanket
Posted December 9, 2006
Leah Werking is a bright, beautiful, rambunctious first grader. She's also an only child. She has a mom who loves her, a pony and dogs and cats, but what she wants more than anything is to have a sister. So she's selling little containers of orangey-orange lip gloss for $3 each. The money will help pay adoption-related costs so that -- come December 2007 -- there'll be an extra Christmas stocking hanging in the Werking household.
The child that Leah and her mother Kathy hope to adopt is named YuLan. YuLan, 8, has a deformed ear and lives in an orphanage in China. When Leah was a baby, she also lived in one of those orphanages. Leah had a club foot and faced a bleak future in her native land.
But Lexington Kentucky's "A Helping Hand Adoption Agency" told me about Leah in 2002 and I wrote a story about her plight. Midway artist Kathy Werking read the article in the Herald-Leader and opened her arms to the little orphan.
Today, Leah can run, skip and jump (thanks to foot surgeons and Shriners Hospital), she speaks perfect English, and she's the most popular kid on Midway's Main Street (where her mom's business, SoapWerks, is located.)
Over a cup of warm chocolate at Qwerk Cafe in Midway, I asked Leah, 6, why she wants a sister. "'Cause I don't have anybody to play with at home," she explained.
There'll be a language barrier at first. "She speaks Chinese," Leah said. "I'm going to be her teacher to teach her English."
So besides a sister, what else would Leah like for Christmas? "A blanket for YuLan to be really warm," she said.
Leah hopes to sell enough lip glosses (besides orangey-orange, she also has peppermint) to pay for her own plane ticket to China, where the adoption process will be completed. Kathy Werking is selling gift packs -- shaped like Chinese takeout boxes -- for $16.95. They include handmade soap, lotion, and bath fizzies, and come in three different styles: "Scents of Kentucky, Peace and Quiet, and Phenomenal Woman."
The boxes are lightweight and if they're ordered soon, will get to their destination in time for the Holidays.
Kathy Werking has launched a "Forever Family Fundraising Kit" to help other would-be adoptive parents raise funds. But that project is on a backburner, while she focuses on bringing YuLan to Kentucky.
By the way, the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader will have a more in-depth story about the Werkings in its Dec. 13 Communities section.
If you'd like to buy some lip gloss or a gift pack, contact:
kathywerking@msn.com or go to
SoapWerks & Werking Studio
120 E. Main Street
PO Box 5046
Midway, KY 40347
859 265-0445
www.foreverfamilyfundraising.com
Archived Comments
You don't exactly have to twist my arm to get me to buy cosmetics.
And for a good cause as well. I'm so there.
Thanks for your support! It means so much to our family. Kathy
Good luck and I'm sure we'll be visisting the shop in the days ahead.