Dear Friends,
The years 2020 and 2021 have been among the strangest and perhaps most difficult years in recent history.
With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, our world was severely shaken. Most of what we considered normal behaviors and activities were suddenly stopped, and we found ourselves isolated and dealing with issues totally new to us. The changes that came about as the result of the pandemic were especially hard on those who were already living paycheck-to-paycheck.
People working in low-paying retail jobs and in food service were suddenly unemployed and unable to put food on the table. As factories shut down, others were unable to pay their rent and provide even the most basic necessities for their children and families.
So I ask you — please consider what you can do to help us improve lives. Together, we are strong, and together, we can and do make a difference.
The children that we serve — from those in Eastern Kentucky to Bogota, Colombia — have had their lives turned upside down by Covid-19, and the effects of months of struggle still plague them and their families today. Parents from Washington
D.C. to Dornakal, India have watched as their incomes have dried up, and they’ve had to search for ways to provide for their families. Teachers and site workers in Dennehotso, Arizona, as well as in Guatemala City have witnessed hunger, sickness, and death among the children they serve, and their families and their hearts have been broken many times over.
A reputable news report states that as many as 120,000 school-age children in the United States lost at least one parent or caregiver as a result of Covid-19, and another report, issued just a couple of months back, speaks of unprecedented levels of child hunger due to the lingering effects of the pandemic in the U.S. and 
abroad.
Things are gradually improving, but our help is still badly needed.
As 2021 comes to a close, I am asking for your help once again. Our goal is to raise at least $25,000 to meet the varied and assorted needs of the children and families enrolled in our programs.
As special requests for assistance arrive in our office, as they do on a daily basis, we want to be able to meet them and provide relief for those who are suffering. Your final gift for 2021 can make that possible.
So I ask you — please consider what you can do to help us improve lives. Together, we are strong, and together, we can and do make a difference.
Please consider making a donation to our 2021 Year End Giving Fund today.