Last year, we introduced you to Jim and Nancy Dornan, and their son Eric. They’ve helped to make Power Soccer an opportunity and an inspiration for hundreds of people in power wheelchairs.

But that’s not the only thing they do.

They built Network of Caring, an organization that supports many projects for children around the world, led by Amway Independent Business Owners (IBOs). We recently received an update on their latest projects.

The Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games are coming to Australia next December, and Network of Caring is already there with a $100,000 sponsorship, led by local IBOs who will help provide medals to the athletes.

The woman in this photo, taken in South Africa, was helped out of a wheelbarrow and into a new wheelchair through Free Wheelchair Mission, one of nearly 5,000 provided by Network of Caring. This month, they shipped another 550 to Odessa, Ukraine for people in the Kiev area.

Finally, Network of Caring was established in a new country. After years of working in India with the Karuna Sharan Orphans Home and Ambassador High School as well as sponsoring children through World Vision, Network of Caring will finally exist as an officially organized indigenous charity in India.

The Power Soccer story was just one of many examples of how Amway people are identifying the greatest needs for children, and responding with generosity and creativity.

Thanks to Jim and Nancy Dornan, who set a vision and lead by example.

Amway distributors from Australia and New Zealand shared their celebration with the local community at the annual Achievers incentive trip in Thailand last month. In addition to donating sports equipment, distributor leaders donated their time to help renovate a local school in Phuket. They volunteered more than 1,000 hours painting dormitories, restoring the sports field and building a new welcome garden.

As Michial Coldwell, General Manager of Amway Australia & New Zealand shared, “Hundreds of Amway distributors from across Australia & New Zealand have qualified and worked really hard to come to Phuket on a great business trip, yet they are here in a school in Phuket giving up their time in order to help paint and renovate this school which was affected by the tsunami. This is all about unifying people across cultures to accomplish one common goal: helping children.”

Click here to see the full photo album. Thanks to Antonia Krunes for sharing this story, and congratulations to all of our Achievers!

We have reached an important milestone.

The Amway One by One Campaign for Children has been transforming lives for 10 years.

What started as a corporate initiative in 2003 has become a grassroots movement of Amway distributors and employees helping children around the world. While Amway affiliates build alliances with local partners, it is the 3 million distributors and 20,000 employees who have helped us to bring our efforts for children to scale.

At the end of 2012, we have counted 10 million children who have been positively impacted through Amway One by One.

Actions include building hospital playrooms in Russia, enabling better nutrition at schools in rural China, providing customized bikes for children with disabilities in Australia, constructing homes in Guatemala and mentoring urban youth in the United States. There are more examples in every region where Amway does business.

Amway One by One has always been about inspiring and encouraging individual actions for children in need. Now, looking back over ten years, we see a beautiful mosaic of hope, inspiration and generosity.

Thanks to everyone who has joined Amway to build better lives for children in our communities.

This year, we celebrate these accomplishments and recognize the work of so many Amway people. But we also challenge ourselves to deepen our efforts, and will close the year with a demonstration of collective support for children in need, around the world.

Our global review concludes in Southeast Asia, where the work for children is as diverse as the many Amway markets in that region.

Amway Australia continued to roll out the partnerships identified during its 40^th anniversary celebration year, featuring programs like neonatal equipment donations, sports equipment for children with special needs (delivered by cricket superstar Adam Gilchrist), and therapy for children with Autism. Amway distributors on an incentive trip to Fiji also took time to help renovate a flood damaged school, with more than 300 participating.

A partnership in Indonesia that started six years ago was still going strong in 2012. After a devastating earthquake struck a remote area in 2006, Amway Indonesia partnered with local employees and distributors to focus on rebuilding two elementary schools. The partnership continues to last, as Amway employees and distributors support the ongoing education at these two schools, providing uniforms, books and shoes for the students, and visiting once each year.

In Malaysia, Amway leaders launched a new partnership to help children in remote areas learn through the act of play, using musical therapy. An organization called Hands Percussion started the Balik Kampung (Homecoming) as a way to support local communities. Amway distributors are taking part as both volunteers and contributors to make the program a success.

Amway Philippines celebrated its 15 year anniversary and marked the occasion by reading and telling stories to young students to improve their literacy skills, and to build a passion for reading. Over the past several years, Amway Philippines has donated books and mobilized volunteers to read and tell stories.

Amway Singapore continued its support of the Singapore Children’s Society to enhance self-esteem, improve math skills, explore personal interests and translate life values into daily values for young children.

Two innovative programs were launched in Thailand last year, both focused on literacy. The first utilized a phone app to allow users to send books to remote areas of the country. The second was a mobile library, 70 of them to be exact, that were sent to schools across the country by Amway.

In Vietnam, Amway extended its support for children with health care needs by partnering with the government to provide medical aid, educational support, vocational and agricultural training in the economically challenged Thanh Hoa province.

Expect to see more in 2013, with some big announcements coming later this week!

Three hundred volunteers. One hundred students. Five villages. One future doctor. It all adds up to what happened on May 21, 2012 in Lomawai, Fiji, at a local school near the Amway Australia and New Zealand Achievers event.

There, Amway Independent Business Owners renovated a flood-damaged school that serves remote villages and provides hope to students whose families are likely living on less than $5 per day.

An invitation from an eight-year-old student at the Wai District School prompted IBOs to spend the day constructing new tables and benches; repairing desks; repainting blackboards and ceilings; bringing new life to the outdoor play areas and the bus shelter; and making the library a fuller, happier place to study.

The students showed their appreciation through dance and song, and welcomed the help with open arms and smiling faces. One IBO described the day’s work like this: “It’s nice to be here and contributing, really making a difference so when we leave here, we’ll leave behind something a lot better.”

As the invitations stated: “No experience necessary – just a giving heart.”

When it comes to Amway IBOs, those are never in short supply.

 Thanks to Cindy Droog and Kevin Lowe for sharing this story.

Thanks to a referral by Amway distributors, two new twin neonatal beds will be installed at Mater Mothers’ Hospital Brisbane with a donation from Amway of Australia.

The beds will be used for twin babies who are premature or critically ill, giving them the best possible medical support and helping the twins to ‘stay in touch’ after so many weeks together in the womb.

Dr. David Knight, Mater Director of Neonatology, said twin babies are generally born at least two weeks premature and sometimes need intensive medical care.

“Twins seem to settle better in twin cots and it’s also much nicer for the parents to know their babies are together,” Dr. Knight said.

Mater’s Neonatal Critical Care Unit cares for approximately 2,000 critically ill babies every year.

Thanks to Kevin Lowe for sharing this story.

Almost one in five people in Australia have some form of disability. This issue has been a focus of Amway Australia through the Freedom Wheels program over the past few years, providing modified bicycles for children with disabilities.

Recently, Amway and champion cricket player Adam Gilchrist extended their support to a new program, 4 Learn and Loan, which provides sports equipment packs so children with disabilities can play with safer sports equipment.

Adam Gilchrist, Amway’s Nutriway Ambassador in Australia, was on hand to present a donation to the West Australia Disabled Sports Association at the Carson Street School.

“Playing sport can help keep you happy and healthy and everyone should be able to have a go,” Adam said. “I was thrilled to meet some of the students … some real champions here!”

The equipment packs give children with disabilities the opportunity to participate in sports and recreation activities with their peers. The equipment is designed for children with high support needs but can be modified to cater for all children.

Thanks to Kevin Lowe for sharing this story.

Early intervention therapies for children suffering from Autism can not only be difficult – they can be downright expensive.

The Amway One by One Foundation in Australia is giving a boost to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) by supporting 4 ASD Kids with a $10,000 gift as one of its 40^th anniversary partners.

The funds will help provide access to early intervention therapies to families. It will also assist with the supply of iPads with learning apps, learning support equipment therapy with speech therapists and sponsorship of early intervention teachers and programs.

“This funding will go a long way in helping families to access early intervention therapies which they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford,” said Mat Rogers and Chloe Maxwell, co-founders of 4 ASD Kids.

Thanks to Kevin Lowe for sharing this story.

The Queensland Floods of 2010/2011 was one of the worst disasters to ever hit Australia. Since then we have seen many communities rebuild, such as the small flood ravaged town of Grantham.

Visiting the town of Grantham nearly one year later, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh officially opened the new Grantham Estate. A part of the new estate is the Grantham Park Memorial Shelter, a place for the community to remember and enjoy each other’s company.

Amway donated $50,000 to help the people of Queensland recover from the floods, half of which went specifically towards the Grantham Park Memorial Shelter.

“After all the tragedy and devastation it’s inspiring to see the strength and resilience of the Grantham community,” said John Haines, head of Sales for Amway Australia. “The local community, through the leadership of the Mayor and people such as Amway IBOs and recipients of the Pride of Australia medal for their services to the community Derek and Chris Pingel, has achieved so much in such a short period of time. It was a pleasure to be able to contribute to the Grantham Park Memorial Shelter and we appreciate the Queensland Premier being able to attend the official opening.”

Thanks to Kevin Lowe for sharing this story.

What a year for Amway Australia! We celebrated our 40th anniversary in Australia and kicked off an initiative to identify new Amway One by One partners.

This has been a culmination of years of investments in the lives of children and communities. Here is a recap video of all that goes on “down under.”

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Thanks to Kevin Lowe for sharing this video.