Tag Archives: child poverty

Children Incorporated | March 31, 2025

In December 2024, Renée Kube and Kristen Walthall of our U.S. Programs Division and our Director of Development Shelley Callahan traveled to Louisiana to visit five affiliated schools in New Orleans, where our sponsors are helping children with their most basic needs to ensure they can attend school ready to learn.

“Our coordinators are immensely grateful for the support that we provide to children at their school, especially when it comes to helping them purchase school uniforms and hygiene items.”

“It was amazing to get a chance to meet all of our volunteer coordinators and some of our sponsored children during our visit,” said Callahan. “Our coordinators are immensely grateful for the support that we provide to children at their school, especially when it comes to helping them purchase school uniforms and hygiene items.”

“New Orleans is the only city in the United States with a city-wide charter school system, and all children must wear expensive uniforms. Sometimes, because of these extra costs for families, children only have one uniform for 165 school days in a calendar year,” explained Callahan.

“Thanks to our sponsors, students have multiple uniforms to wear. Additionally, sponsorship provides children warm clothes during the colder months, rain gear, and much-needed hygiene items that these students would otherwise go without. It was amazing to hear such inspiring stories about how our sponsorship program is making such a difference.”

“Thank you to all our incredible supporters who make our work in New Orleans possible! You are truly helping so many lives by sponsoring a child. We couldn’t do it without you,” said Callahan.

Want to learn more about our work in New Orleans? Subscribe to our blog series, Stories of Hope, today! https://childrenincorporated.org/stories-of-hope/

REMEMBERING OUR DEAR FRIEND, MAGDA KEGLEY

Magda Kegley, a longtime employee of Children Incorporated, passed away quite suddenly on Saturday, March 8th, 2025. During her tenure with Children Incorporated, Magda served in various capacities, including over two decades as Director of our International Division. Many of our coordinators and sponsors became quite familiar with Magda and grew to love her, just as our staff did. She was a ray of sunshine, always smiling and always caring about others. Magda’s kind words touched many hearts, and her laughter challenged us all to find joy in life. Our staff will certainly miss our dear friend. Our heartfelt condolences go out to her children, Lisa and Scott, her granddaughter, Brynn, and her sister, Nayda, and the entire family.

Keeping Kids Cozy in the Winter

We want to say a huge thank you to Salisbury Presbyterian Church Preschool in Midlothian, Virginia, for donating pajamas to Children Incorporated through our long-time partner, the Pajama Program!

Each pair of the 233 new children’s pajamas was distributed to children at local schools in the Richmond, Virginia, area, along with a storybook, which the Pajama Program provided.

“Thank you so much for your very valued support! It means so much to all of us that you care so much about these children and their well-being.”

“This is such a fabulous program, and it was so thoughtful for Salisbury Presbyterian to think of students in our sponsorship program,” said U.S. Programs Director Renée Kube. “Knowing that these special children are going to go to bed warm and comfortable in brand new pajamas is very touching for the entire staff of Children Incorporated, our volunteer coordinators at the school, and the parents of these deserving kids. Thank you for your donations!”

Our CEO and President, Ron Carter, Visits Mexico

“Visiting our four affiliated sites in Mexico was quite inspiring for me. Having previously not been to Mexico, I was impressed by the rich heritage of this beautiful and historic country, but more than anything else, I was moved by the commitment and dedication of the sisters who oversee our programs. These women obviously care deeply for the children they serve, and this was never more apparent than at Hogar Casa Julia in San Miguel de Allende”.

“At this site, girls who have been removed from their homes due to various forms of abuse are provided with a safe place to live, nice clothes, and nutritional food, and they receive excellent education and guidance as they heal from their dysfunctional pasts. Sister Isabel, who has been serving at this school for more than a quarter of a century, is a parent figure to these girls, making sure that their needs are met each and every day. She manages funds provided by Children Incorporated sponsors with excellence and precision. She and all of the sisters with whom we work in Mexico are simply incredible, and I was thoroughly impressed with each of them.”

– Ronald H. Carter

New Shoes for Children in Kentucky

Not long ago, we received a letter from Jackie, our volunteer coordinator at Breathitt Elementary School in Kentucky, thanking us and our amazing donors for allowing Hope In Action Funds to purchase shoes and socks for every child in our sponsorship program at her school!

“I am writing in appreciation of the support shown by your organization on behalf of sponsored children at my school. In a school of four hundred students between three and eight years old, fostering independence is vital. Thanks to Children Incorporated Hope In Action Funds, each child in the sponsorship program received a pair of sturdy, name-brand Crocs shoes.”

“These shoes do not require tying, are easy to clean with soap and water, and, most importantly, are comfortable to wear.”

“The kids were thrilled to receive the shoes and loved the attractive colors. They wear them daily. Thank you so much for your very valued support! It means so much to all of us that you care so much about these children and their well-being.”

READ THE FULL NEWSLETTER

Children Incorporated | March 31, 2025

In the fall of 2024, our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, and our International Programs Specialist, Yefiny Mena, visited our affiliated sites in Guatemala and El Salvador to meet with our volunteer coordinators and sponsored children and hear more about how our sponsors are changing the lives of children and families in need in Central America. Today, we hear from Luis about their visit to Santa Isabel Ana Seton in Guatemala City, where Sister Ana Julia Hernandez welcomed them warmly and spoke with them about how our Feeding Program Fund is helping kids she is looking over.

“All the children here seemed happy and eager to learn in school, and the children in the Children Incorporated program were very polite when we met them.”

Visiting with Sister Julia

“Santa Isabel Ana Seton is located in Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala. It opened its doors to children in 2006, and since then, Sor Ana Julia Hernandez has been our coordinator,” said Luis.

“Out of the 390 students attending the school at the moment, 90 of these students are participating in our sponsorship program. Santa Isabel Ana Seton students also benefit from our feeding program every month, where the coordinator selects 25 children out of the 90 participants in Children Incorporated to provide them with nutritious food. The children selected are the most in need, as Sister Julia has conducted home visits and met with all of their parents.”

“This school is located in the center of Guatemala City and absorbs students from the periphery and red zone areas of the city (zones of low-income families, where common crime is always present). The school has a program that goes from Kindergarten to 9th grade. Santa Isabel Ana Seton School is a well-cared-for school where children feel safe and enjoy a clean environment for education. They have ample space inside the compound, and it is all enclosed and protected. All the children here seemed happy and eager to learn in school, and the children in the Children Incorporated program were very polite when we met them. They wanted to present a small program with culture and songs and dances from Guatemala for us, and we truly enjoyed it!” said Luis.

“The school has a series of buildings in a rather large plot of land right in the middle of the city, which is very unusual. There is one building dedicated to kindergarten, one for primary education classes, and one for middle school education. They also have other small buildings, one with a kitchen, another with a facility for a food preparation skill program, and a garment-making program, which was implemented with the support of Children Incorporated a few years ago. These two programs are very important as they prepare and provide such skills to older children, as well as their parents and relatives, so that they can increment income with the skill. The skill training programs are a one-year program of learning and hands-on practice for them to be completed, and they are very comprehensive and prepare the participants well.”

“Children Incorporated’s monthly support at Santa Isabel Ana Seton covers school fees and other needs, such as school supplies at the beginning of the year and sometimes shoes and clothing, mainly during the holidays and when sponsors send additional gifts. Yefiny and I met with Sister Julia after we toured the school and left very satisfied with all the programs and support the children received, thanks mainly to our sponsors and donors.”

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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

You can sponsor a child in one of three ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members; email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org; or go online to our sponsorship portal, create an account, and search for a child in that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Children Incorporated | March 24, 2025

Our volunteer coordinator, Casey, at Huguenot High School in Virginia, recently wrote to us to thank you, our amazing sponsors, for your dedication to helping children at her school find value in themselves and their education:

“Thank you and your donors for their continued support. You are changing the world one gift at a time!”

Casey’s Letter

“This is a huge thank you to all our donors and you all at Children Incorporated. Here at Huguenot High School, we have so many students in need. We have many students dealing with anxiety and social issues on a regular basis, and you have helped them so much.

We have also observed many individual students helped by the generous donations of Children Incorporated. Just as one example, we have a student who both works and goes to school and doesn’t have a lot of money to spend on herself. She has to help pay rent where she lives and often wears the same clothes over and over again. Due to your donations, I was able to get her necessary hair products, clothes, and even a few extra gifts for herself that she would never get if it weren’t for you all.

There is no way any of the students could help support themselves without the funds of Children Incorporated. Our children are able to feel special and loved by people they don’t even know or get to meet, and that is something amazing. You all help build self-confidence and self-worth, and help children see the world from a different perspective and create graduates where there may not have been one. Thank you and your donors for their continued support. You are changing the world one gift at a time!”

With gratitude and appreciation,

Casey

your impact through hope in action

Sponsorship is one of many ways you help impoverished children every month. Additionally, thanks to contributions to our Hope In Action Fund in the last month, we have been able to:

– Provide funds to purchase nutritious meals for 30 children for a month at Santa Isabel Ana Seton in Guatemala
– Provide funds for relief and recovery efforts for families affected by flooding at Kimper Elementary School in Kentucky
– Provide funds to purchase meals for 25 students for a month at the Dandora Community Center in Kenya
– Provide funds for students at Oak Grove/Bellemeade Elementary School in Virginia to purchase books at the Spring Book Fair
– Provide funds to purchase bed frames, mattresses, and bedding for five students who attend Langston Hughes Academy in Louisiana
– Provide funding to purchase meals for 1000 children for a month at the St. John’s Community Center in Kenya
– Provide funds for relief and recovery efforts for families affected by flooding at Cowan Elementary School in Kentucky
– Provide funds to purchase materials and supplies for a Native Art project at Page Middle School in Arizona
– Provide funds for Martin County Middle School students to travel from Kentucky to Washington, D.C. for a field trip
– Provide funds to relief and recovery efforts for families affected by flooding at Valley Elementary School in Kentucky

…and so much more! Thank you to our supporters for all that you do! We couldn’t do our life-changing work without you.

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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

SPONSOR A CHILD

Renee Kube | March 18, 2025

Dear Friends,

Our Shared Hope Fund, which provides basic needs support for children waiting for a special sponsor, is one of our most valued funds. Recently, I saw yet another example of its importance and how it helps students who are in immediate and sometimes desperate need of help. The story touches my heart, and I believe you will feel it, too.

Would you please consider making a donation to our Shared Hope Fund today? We always need and deeply appreciate your support of our special funds that support all of our organization’s programs.

Alex’s Story

One of our volunteer coordinators at a newly affiliated U.S. high school contacted me. She had learned that one of her teenage students, Alex*, was in crisis, had become homeless, and was sleeping in a car in frigid weather. Thanks to contributions to our Hope In Action Program from generous donors and sponsors like you, I was able to arrange for immediate emergency aid for Alex. Then the coordinator added wistfully that she had wanted to enroll Alex in our sponsorship program but was concerned that since Alex is in the 12th grade and would be graduating in May, she wasn’t sure she should complete an application for him to enroll him.

I encouraged her to go ahead and enroll Alex. I explained that our Shared Hope Fund can provide assistance for Alex from now through graduation, offering him encouragement and hope. This support will enable Alex to receive not only clothing and classroom supplies but his graduation cap and gown, too – things that our coordinator didn’t think she would be able to provide for him. The coordinator is thrilled to be able to help Alex quickly and really change his life for the better, setting him on a hopeful path for the future.

Our shared hope fund at work

Donations made to our Shared Hope Fund provide immediate support to children awaiting sponsorship, whether they are 7 or 17 years old. As director of our organization’s programs in the United States, I truly value our Shared Hope Fund for its flexibility and scope. We add new children to our sponsorship program every day. Finding enough sponsors for all of them is one of our biggest ongoing challenges.

The need at the global level is so profound that some children can wait many months before they are matched with their sponsors; for that reason, our Shared Hope Fund is vital to helping children who sometimes desperately need our help.

Would you please consider making a donation to our Shared Hope Fund today? We always need and deeply appreciate your support of our special funds that support all of our organization’s programs. Thank you so much for considering a contribution to our Shared Hope Fund to help children right away while they await their sponsors.

With deep gratitude,
Renée Kube

*Name changed to protect the child.

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Children Incorporated | March 16, 2025

We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with Muddy Kids! Thanks to their generosity, Muddy Kids will be donating a portion of funds from each Muddy Kids event in 2025 to Children Incorporated.

“We believe that Children Incorporated’s incredible work aligns perfectly with our values of promoting health, joy, and family unity.”

About Muddy Kids

Muddy Kids is a 1.5–2.2 mile adventure event series for families and kids ages 5–15, with fun and challenging obstacles, mud, and entertainment for the whole family. Muddy Kids doesn’t focus on the fastest times or competitions; the focus is fun, with obstacle courses made for walking, crawling, climbing, sliding, balancing, and laughing all in the mud! Muddy Kids is the perfect event to reconnect, strengthen relationships, have fun, get active, get muddy, and bond as a family.

“We believe that Children Incorporated’s incredible work aligns perfectly with our values of promoting health, joy, and family unity,” said Lizhan, Senior Marketing Manager at Muddy Kids. “Together, we can make a great impact by supporting Children Incorporated while offering participants a fun and meaningful day out.”

We are so grateful for this wonderful partnership. To find out more and see if Muddy Kids will be in your area this upcoming season, visit their website today!

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Children Incorporated | March 3, 2025En Español

After leaving India, our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, traveled to Sri Lanka to visit our two affiliated sites in the country. His first stop was the Touch a Life with Hope Center in Colombo, the capital. Here, girls from low-income families are pursuing higher education thanks to support from their sponsors.

“They indicated that without those benefits from Children Incorporated sponsors, they would have a hard time completing their education, let alone thinking about higher education,” said Luis.

Luis’ Visit

“The Touch a Life with Hope Center is a home for girls in Colombo. The Ceylon Association supports the home, but Children Incorporated sponsorship provides additional support for other needs for the girls such as food, school supplies, and clothes, which is essential to their well-being since funds from the Ceylon Association are limited,” explained Luis.

“Children from the local neighborhood are enrolled in the Children Incorporated program at the home, and they come to Touch a Life twice a month to collect food, school supplies, clothing, or shoes provided by our sponsors. We have also provided additional funding for mosquito nets and, during the pandemic, hygiene items that were very beneficial to all the girls that lived in the home and others enrolled in the Children Incorporated program.”

Looking ahead to higher education

All of the children enrolled at Touch a Life with Hope Center met with me during my visit and shared information on the benefits they receive. They indicated that without those benefits from Children Incorporated sponsors, they would have a hard time completing their education, let alone thinking about higher education,” said Luis.

“The home is located in a good area of the city, adequate, and provides a nurturing environment for the girls. The building houses two large dorms, an adequate kitchen and dining hall, and a section for administration. In the middle, there is a small landscaped area, and in the back, they have toilets and washrooms. To the side of the administration area, there is another section with trees, flowers, and grass that allows everyone to enjoy some quiet time and relaxation. I very much enjoyed my visit and seeing how well the girls were doing at the home.”

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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

SPONSOR A CHILD