Tag Archives: child poverty

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?

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

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

Children Incorporated | March 3, 2025En Español

As he finishes his visit to our affiliated sites in Sri Lanka, our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, meets with our volunteer coordinator, Dr. Rodrigo, at the Chrishanti Lama Sevana in Colombo, which she established many years ago out of her home in order to help some of the most impoverished children in her own neighborhood.

Learning about the Center

“The Chrishanti Center is located in the Kirulapone area of Colombo, in the capital city. This area is strikingly divided between a well-developed area of Colombo and entwined slums for housing for low-income families. The Chrishanti Center is located at the border of both regions in one of the slums. Here, Dr. Nalini Rodrigo, from a well-to-do family, wanted to support those in need many years ago. She was initially serving children from her and her husband’s own home, and then later, a local community provided a small plot of land in a poorly developed area to be used for the center,” said Luis.

“Many other children are also in permanent working positions because of what our sponsorship program support allowed them to do in school and university,” said Luis.

“They started the center very modestly with a makeshift hut to meet the needs of the children and families and provide Children Incorporated support to enrolled children there. A few years ago, we convinced Dr. Rodrigo to upgrade the facility, with intentions to continue providing sponsorship support but also to give more stability to the families, tend to other needs, and increase aid to those who needed more support. As a result, a small two-story building was constructed. Here, they decided to use the first floor as a daycare center to cater to the children of mothers who work during the day. The Children Incorporated sponsored children would use this area to receive monthly benefits as well. The children received mostly food and school supplies. Everyone liked the center, as now it was more of their place.”

The importance of education

“In Sri Lanka, education is of very personal importance, as the literacy rate in this nation is up in the 90th percentile, and everyone wants to graduate from high school, and no one wants to quit education. Most parents of Children Incorporated sponsored children have never had the opportunity to attend high school. Still, every child in our program has finished high school, and many have participated in a university or a technical school. A child named Gayan went to school to study for a Systems Engineering career, and he now works in a big IT company in Colombo; he still helps his parents, and he is very involved with the Chrishanti Center as an advocate and teacher in his spare time. He was our guide during the visit. Many other children are also in permanent working positions because of what our sponsorship program support allowed them to do in school and university,” said Luis.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the center and felt, as always, that Dr. Rodrigo was doing an excellent job of providing for the children in our program through sponsorship support.”

***

How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

SPONSOR A CHILD

Children Incorporated | February 24, 2025En Español

Our volunteer coordinator, Tonia, at Sparta Elementary School in North Carolina, recently wrote to us to express how awesome she thinks you, our loyal sponsors and donors, are for the support you provide for children at her school.

Tonia’s Letter

“Because of the financial support our students have received from their sponsors, I have been able to purchase clothes, book bags, school supplies, and toiletries throughout the school year. It is so exciting and rewarding to see the Children Incorporated students’ smiling faces as they come to school with new outfits. The students make sure to come by and show us. It is also so important that I am able to buy the students much-needed soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes, and toothpaste that they would otherwise not have.

Thanks to you, we have been able to provide funding for ongoing Hurricane Helene emergency relief supplies for students and families — and so much more!

We are so fortunate to have such loving and caring sponsors who correspond with our students and encourage them in a positive way. The sponsors write letters and send coloring sheets, stickers, and cards, which are such fun surprises for the kids! Some of our sponsors even send special gifts for holidays, and seeing the excitement from the children is so awesome. The kids get very excited when they receive mail from their sponsors and are always ready and willing to write their sponsors a nice thank you note.

Thanks to sponsors, students were also able to purchase books at the book fair and go on a field trip to the Outer Banks this past year! The look on their faces when they were told they didn’t have to pay the fee for the trip was priceless. We very much appreciate the Children Incorporated program!”

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 desks for students at the Bethel School in Guatemala
– Provide funds to purchase mattresses for children in our sponsorship program at the Recanto Esperanca Center in Brazil
– Provide funds to purchase bakery equipment for a skills training program at CARITAS-Novo Milenio Center in Brazil
– Provide funds to purchase water storage tanks for the Santa Rosa School in Bolivia so students have access to potable water
– Provide funds to purchase meals for 30 students for a month at Santa Isabel Seton in Guatemala
– Provide funding for ongoing Hurricane Helene emergency relief supplies for students and families at Mitchell High School in North Carolina
– Provide funds for an evening literacy program for students and their parents at Bevins Elementary School in Kentucky
– Provide funds to purchase educational tablets for students at Whitesburg Middle School in Kentucky
– Provide funds to purchase hygiene items for students at Phillis Wheatley Community School in New Orleans, Louisiana
– Provide funding to purchase meals for 100 children at the St. John’s Community Center in Kenya

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

***

How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

SPONSOR A CHILD