Looking for the Bigger Picture

Long-time sponsor Laura DeCook reflects on her sponsorship experience

When I received an email earlier this year from sponsor Laura DeCook about a bake sale fundraiser she was hosting, I was thrilled to hear about her efforts to help her sponsored child, Caroline*, beyond her monthly sponsorship contribution. What I didn’t realize at the time was just how much more Laura was doing when it came to being involved in Caroline’s life — and the lives of other children as well. I would soon […]

Room to Grow in Honduras

Amidst overcrowding concerns in schools, the Siguatepeque Primary School offers a spacious learning environment

Nestled in northern Central America, Honduras was once home to several Mesoamerican peoples — most notably, the Maya. This ecologically diverse land — with its rainforests, cloud forests, savannas, mountain ranges and a barrier reef system off the northern coast — teems with life.  Its wealth of natural resources is equally impressive, including a variety of minable minerals as well as agricultural exports such as coffee, tropical fruit, sugar cane and lumber.

Excelling in San Pedro Sula

At the Maria Reyna Home, children from impoverished backgrounds are excellent students

Honduras’s industrial center and second-largest city, San Pedro Sula, has a reputation for being dangerous. Deemed the “murder capital of the world” for almost a decade until 2016, crime and economic distress have led to the mass migration of Honduran minors seeking safety from gangs and drug-related violence. But for those children who have no choice but to stay behind and face the harsh realities of their environment, places such as our affiliated project the […]

Attending, Learning and Graduating

Our volunteer coordinator at Boyd County High School works hard to make sure her students succeed

Students in attendance at Boyd County High School in the small rural town of Cannonsburg, Kentucky are fortunate to have their resource center volunteer, Vickie, in their lives. Thanks in large part to Vickie’s efforts, the school has a high success rate — much higher than many other schools in Eastern Kentucky. As of last year, 93% of students at the school graduate within four years, and 65% enroll in some type of higher education. […]

Pride in Her Students

Our Coordinator praises children at Ponderosa Elementary School for giving back

For years, Catlettsburg, where our affiliated sites Catlettsburg Elementary and Ponderosa Elementary Schools are located, was known as “The Gate City” because it was here that barges were loaded with coal to be shipped down the Ohio River to other ports. The decline of the coal industry in Kentucky and West Virginia has severely diminished the city’s economic importance, and commerce is now minimal. Today, this area of Boyd County, Kentucky suffers from high rates […]

Two Schools, One Volunteer Coordinator

At Fairview Independent Schools in Eastern Kentucky, our volunteer coordinator has a large workload

Fairview Independent School comprises two campuses, Fairview Elementary and Fairview High Schools, located just a few blocks apart from each other in the small community of Westwood, Kentucky. Like many communities in Eastern Kentucky, Westwood has suffered significantly from the decline of the coal and steel mining industries that used to dominate this area. At one point, Armco Steel employed the majority of the Westwood workforce and made it a prosperous town. Today, only 1300 […]