We are happy to share with you our Spring 2023 Newsletter, highlighting our work around the world thanks to you, our sponsors and donors, and your generosity and dedication to helping children in need. Enjoy!
Expanding Our Efforts in the Philippines
After many years, we are getting the chance to visit our affiliated sites around the world to meet with our volunteer coordinators and sponsored children again.
In early January, our Director of Development, Shelley Callahan, visited the Philippines, where she met with our volunteer coordinators, sponsored children, and their parents to find out more about how their lives are impacted by the support they receive from their sponsors. Her visit not only marked the first time that Children Incorporated was able to visit the Philippines since 2018, but it was also the first time that we were able to see our newly added affiliated sites in person!
“In 2022, we expanded our sponsorship program in the Philippines to include the Cangumbang Center and the Santo Nino Center, both located in Tacloban within driving distance of the Visayans Center at Bliss, which we have been affiliated with since 2005,” explained Callahan.
“It was so incredible to see the work that we have been able to do in the Philippines first-hand, especially in the specific areas where Typhoon Yolanda devastated the area in 2013.”
“Since then, with the help of Children Incorporated, residents of Tacloban have rebuilt and restructured their lives to be more prepared for natural disasters,” said Callahan. “The support from our sponsors and donors is so vital to the well-being of children here who sometimes can’t leave their homes due to flooding or extensive rainstorms. Our coordinators are on the ground making sure our sponsored children are being fed and have hygiene items and school supplies every month so they don’t have to worry about how and when they can get the resources they need.”
We are happy to share with you our Spring 2023 Newsletter, highlighting our work around the world thanks to you, our sponsors and donors, and your generosity and dedication to helping children in need.
Read more:
VISITING THE PEARL OF THE ORIENT SEAS
HELPING JORDAN ACHIEVE HIS DREAMS
Our Higher Education Fund supports our sponsored children who are interested in pursuing university or college degrees once they graduate from high school.
Recently, our Director of U.S. Programs, Renée Kube, received an update about former sponsored student, Jordan, who has been receiving support from this special fund.
“Jordan was enrolled in our sponsorship program at Sparta Elementary School and then Alleghany High School in North Carolina. During his high school years, he took honors and dual-enrollment classes. Due to his academic achievement, our coordinator recommended him for our Higher Education Program,” said Renée.
Jordan was accepted, and he began his university studies at Western Carolina University in 2019. However, as a first-generation college student, Jordan found the transition to college challenging. The pandemic made things increasingly difficult for Jordan and his family. He decided to take a leave of absence in Spring 2022 in order to de-stress and to think about his options.”
“Jordan then chose to transfer to Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. He contacted me last September to let me know he had re-enrolled. He is now working on a bachelor’s degree in music, and he is in good academic standing. His major is in Instrumental Music Education, and he wants to be a music and band teacher.
Our President and CEO, Ron Carter, is celebrating 20 years with Children Incorporated in 2023. Read more about his time with our organization in the full newsletter!
When Jordan contacted me last fall, he told me, ‘Children Incorporated has done so much for me through the years. I’m so glad I was able to stay a part of it while in college. You all are absolutely wonderful. Thank you for letting me be a part of this, and for being the people you are.’”
We are so proud of you and your hard work, Jordan! If you would like to find out more about our Higher Education Fund or make a donation, please contact us today.
Making Christmas Special in New Mexico — and Around the World
Our sponsors make Christmas special for so many children around the world every year — and often times provide them with the only gifts that they receive.
Our volunteer coordinator, Cecelia, from the Tohaali Community School in New Mexico, wrote to us after the 2022 holiday season to express her gratitude:
“I want to thank all of the Children Incorporated sponsors for all their support. I purchased items for the students at our school in the sponsorship program before the winter break, and my shopping trip included not only basic items, but Christmas presents, too. I wish the Children Incorporated staff and sponsors could have seen the faces of these children when they received the gift bags — it was priceless. Some of them were completely speechless and in awe. You are truly making a huge difference in their lives.”
Every holiday season, our sponsors and donors make the holidays special for children in our program. From India to El Salvador to Arizona, your donations bring cheer and joy to so many families who otherwise might not have the means to celebrate.