We are delighted to let everyone know that we had a very successful 2014-15 fund-raising campaign and sent $12,500 to Pro Vita for the interior and exterior doors and the roof of the new home for teenage students in Valenii de Munte.  In the last three years AFPVO has sent more than $20,000 to Pro Vita.  Your continuing generosity has made such a difference — thank you all.

 We have been actively working with the Romanian Orthodox churches in the Washington D.C. metro area over the past few months, trying to get our local Romanian community more involved with the work of AFPVO.  Several parishioners have already been to Pro Vita and are very supportive of the work being done there.  We will continue to reach out to these church communities and their interested members to build a connection with our local Romanian Orthodox population.  We encourage all of you to do the same if there are Romanian churches or other organizations in your area.

We are taking a break from fund-raising until 2016 although we always welcome your donations. Both PayPal and GoFundMe take a percentage of your donation so a check sent to AFPVO ensures that 100% of your donation will go to Pro Vita in Romania.

We are working with Mihail Tanase to select a new high priority building project that we can support next year.  The Pro Vita community in Valea Screzii is now responsible for over 500 people so the need for financial support continues to grow.  They did receive a small grant from the European Community to buy four sewing machines. Four women have been trained and are producing various hand-made items for sale.  A website for this endeavor, www.project.castero.ro, is under construction.  Mihail continues to explore other ways for the Pro Vita community to become more self-sustaining financially.

Once again, we will send $1500-$2000 to enable Pro Vita to buy individual Christmas presents for the children in residence.

Warm regards,

Donna Shelton, President

Frank Doe, Treasurer

Fr. Sean Cavanaugh, Chairman

John Griswold, Board Member