Tag Archives: child

Shelley Callahan | February 20, 2023En Español

After leaving Costa Rica in the fall of 2022, our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, traveled to Nicaragua to visit the two affiliated sites that we work with in the country.

Today, we hear from Luis about his trip to the La Recolección School, where sponsored children are provided with a safe and spacious place to get an education.

“The children are also given food to take home on the weekends, and they receive school supplies and other basic needs throughout the year as well.”

Learning about our affiliated site

“La Recolección is a semi-private school run by the Sisters of Charity in the town of Leon, about two hours away from Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. More than 800 children from low and lower middle-class families attend this school, and it has an excellent reputation in the community. Upon my visit in 2022, our volunteer coordinator discussed with me the need for upgrades and repairs at the school, but there is little money for this, as they have to pay teachers’ salaries and other expenses to run the school,” explained Luis.

“More than sixty children are currently enrolled in the Children Incorporated sponsorship program at the school, and we were told that all of them are from low-income families, mostly former members of a Nicaraguan political group, the Sandinistas, that get very little support in the community for their children’s education or for their survival.”

Sponsors making sure children are educated

Thanks to their sponsors, children who otherwise would have to attend overcrowded public schools are able to attend La Recolección.

“The Children Incorporated sponsored children have most of their school fees paid at La Recolección thanks to their sponsors, and their parents contribute a small amount so that they have the responsibility to support their children as well. The children are also given food to take home on the weekends, and they receive school supplies and other basic needs throughout the year.”

“At a meeting with the sponsored children and their parents, they expressed their gratitude for the support. The only other option for them in Leon would be to send their children to a government school, where getting a proper education is much more difficult due to overcrowding within classrooms. They are much more comfortable sending their children to the La Recolección School, which has a limit on the number of children in attendance,” said Luis.

A home for a family in need

“At the end of the day, I visited some homes with our volunteer coordinator. One of the homes of a sponsored child was made with a metal sheet roof, so we had to wait outside of the house when arriving because it was extremely hot inside. There is only a mother to support the child. The house is located in an area with a lot of crime, and the mother worries about her daughter.”

“Our volunteer coordinator told me she will check and see if a small plot can be provided by the local government, and then she will request support from our Hope In Action Program to build a house for this family,” said Luis.

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How do I sponsor a child in Nicaragua?

You can sponsor a child in Nicaragua 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 Nicaragua that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | February 6, 2023En Español

In this edition of Stories of Hope, our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, concludes his trip to our Costa Rica affiliated sites with a visit to the Costa Rica Center in San Jose.

The beginning of the center

“This center is located in the northern part of San Jose. It is run by a woman, Marta, who is also our volunteer coordinator,” said Luis.

“The mother told us that she was so grateful for Marta and the program because without it, she would have a hard time sending all her children to school.”

“Marta used to work at what was the Costa Rica Children’s Orphanage, located in the downtown area of the city, which supported abandoned children or children from low-income families that could not raise their children on their own.”

“Our sponsorship program was initiated at the orphanage to provide additional educational support to the children, until the local government decided to part with the orphanage and converted it into an afterschool program and then a community center. When this happened, Marta was no longer employed, and the Children Incorporated program was dissolved,” explained Luis.

“But Marta was persistent and didn’t want her community to lose the support from sponsors or Children Incorporated. She decided to look for support through a local church, and she started her own version of a center where children could meet and receive food, school supplies and other essential items. And so started the Costa Rica Center!”

Teaching a community new skills

“Marta still gets help from the church today and still uses a portion of the church to meet with the children and families on a regular basis. While I was visiting in September of 2022, I met with children and their parents, and they all expressed how helpful the sponsorship program is, and how grateful they were for the much-needed support that Marta provides,” said Luis.

“Marta finds ways to stretch the funds to provide what is most needed for the children’s education. After our meeting, the children and their families showed us some crafts they had made, all thanks to Marta, who is teaching crafting skills so families can earn extra money.”

“We then went to a couple of houses of our sponsored children. One particular house was made with scrap and metal sheets and had dirt floors and partial wooden sections. The mother told us that she was so grateful for Marta and the program because without it, she would have a hard time sending all her children to school, just as many of the other parents,” said Luis.

Looking to expand and grow

“Before we finished for the day, Marta expressed to me that she is working with a local community center so that they will have more space to do handcrafts and workshops. She hopes to expand on the skills training, so that parents and children can have a way to make life easier.”

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How do I sponsor a child in Costa Rica?

You can sponsor a child in Costa Rica 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 Costa Rica that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Children Incorporated | February 5, 2023

The Philippines comprise a vast island nation in southeast Asia. This archipelago of more than 7,000 islands boasts sandy beaches, towering mountains and volcanoes, tropical rainforests and an incredible wealth of natural resources and biodiversity. Humans have called these islands home for thousands of years, predating historic records. Today, the Philippines incorporate a staggering number of languages, ethnic groups, religions and cultures. Despite its status as an emerging market, however, nearly half of all Filipinos still earn less than $2 a day. Adequate sanitation, access to healthcare and access to potable water are still daily challenges in this widely underdeveloped country, which is also prone to typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Children in the Philippines need your help. Please consider becoming a sponsor today.

Challenges for Children in the Philippines

In the Philippines, children’s very lives and futures are at risk, as they struggle with poverty and lack of educational resources. Right now, children in Chile need your help.

More than 13 million Filipino children live below the poverty line
One-third of all children in the Philippines comes from impoverished households
Children living in poverty face multiple vulnerabilities that threaten their survival
and growth such as malnutrition, poor health, and lack of clean water and sanitation
Child poverty increases the risk of child marriage, child labor, abuse, and exploitation
of children in the Philippines

Our Work in the Philippines

Thanks to caring people like you, Children Incorporated has helped thousands of children living in poverty in the Philippines since 1964.

We work with our volunteer coordinators in local communities to provide health and nutrition, education, hygiene items, clothes, shoes, and other essentials that help children and families rise above the poverty in which they live.

Our strategy is to focus on individual children through our sponsorship program, ensuring they are receiving exactly what they need on a regular basis.

Your support makes all our work possible to help children in crisis in the Philippines.

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How do I sponsor a child in the Philippines?

You can sponsor a child in the Philippines 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 the Philippines that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

SOURCES:

https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/children

https://www.unicef.org/philippines/social-policy-and-governance

Shelley Callahan | February 1, 2023En Español

In the fall of 2022, our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, visited our affiliated sites in Costa Rica for the first time since before the pandemic. Today, we hear from Luis about his visit to La Milagrosa, where he met with our volunteer coordinator, as well as with parents and students in our sponsorship program.

“Our sponsors provide food, school supplies, shoes, clothing, and any basic resources and emergency support that the children need that their families cannot cover.”

About La Milagrosa

“La Milagrosa Center is located in an area of San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, with very few opportunities for employment, and therefore has many low-income families,” said Luis.

“Like our affiliated site, The Santa Luisa Center in Bambu, La Milagrosa is operated by the Sisters of Charity, and offers educational support to children living in the surrounding neighborhoods, as well as to children in the periphery of the city.”

“The children who attend the Center meet weekly, and the Sisters follow-up with them regarding their lessons in school, as well as provide support and information on how to resolve problems they may be having, whether in the classroom, with other students, or even at home,” explained Luis.

Offering help when it is needed the most

During his visit, Luis had the chance to meet with children and their parents, who told him how valuable our sponsorship program is to them.

“Our sponsors provide food, school supplies, shoes, clothing, and any basic resources and emergency support that the children need that their families cannot cover.”

“The majority of the children attend local public schools and live in dwellings that lack some basic services, such as electricity, running water or indoor plumbing. The schools are supported by the government, but they also lack many resources, which is why our program is so important for the children,” said Luis.

“When the children meet with our volunteer coordinator, she determines what their most immediate needs are, whether it be food items, mattresses, new shoes, or hygiene items. At the beginning of each school year, they receive new uniforms purchased thanks to their sponsors’ generous donations.”

Hope for the future

“I met with most of the parents and children participants in our sponsorship program, and they all expressed their gratitude for the support. They also hope for support to continue until their children graduate because many of the parents feel that without the help from sponsors, their children will fall behind in school and be forced to drop out at an early age,” said Luis.

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How do I sponsor a child in Costa Rica?

SPONSOR A CHILD

Children Incorporated | January 24, 2023

As a part of our ongoing Stories of Hope blog series, we want to share with you our January 2023 Impact Report as a way to say “thank you” to all our supporters who make our work possible.

Along with so much more, your donations provided funds to help repair damaged pipes for drinking water in the home of a family in our sponsorship program at Inez Elementary School just in this past month.

Beyond what you already provide to children through our sponsorship program, your donations to our Special Funds and Special Projects allow us to help families and communities as well, often in times of crisis.

YOUR IMPACT AROUND THE WORLD

Just in this past month, your donations have:

– Provided support for computer and English language classes for students at the Santa Clotilde Home in Bolivia

– Provided funds for menstrual hygiene items for twenty-five girls for one month at Santa Isabel Ana Seton in Guatemala

– Provided funds for an educational field trip for 8^th graders at Valle Crucis Elementary School in North Carolina

– Provided funds to help repair damaged pipes for drinking water in the home of a family in our sponsorship program at Inez Elementary School

– Provided food for 200 children for a month at the St. John’s Community Center in Kenya

– Provided funds for families of children who attend Chrishanti Lama Sevana in Sri Lanka who are struggling through an economic crisis

– Provided warm clothing for students at Hannaa Dli Community School/Huerfano Dorm in New Mexico

– Provided funds to fill the clothing closet at the resource center at Morgan County High School in Kentucky

– Provided emergency aid funds for a family who is living without running water at Crum PK-8 School in West Virginia

– Provided materials and supplies for an afterschool tutoring program at Lotts Creek Elementary School in Kentucky

… all in addition to the support you already provide through sponsorship to children in our program. Thank you for everything you do for children in need!

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HOW do I MAKE A DONATION TO CHILDREN INCORPORATED?

You can donate to Children Incorporated in one of three ways: call our office at 1-800-538-5381 and speak with one of our staff members; email us at hello@children-inc.org and a staff member can assist you with making a donation; or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and choose a particular fund in which to make a donation.

DONATE

Shelley Callahan | January 21, 2023

Corporate social responsibility, commonly referred to as CSR, is a business model that helps companies, both big and small, be socially accountable to themselves, its stakeholders, and the public. It is a practical and socially conscious way for companies to give back to society.

Corporate social responsibility initiatives that support children in need are an important part of giving back to your community and the world.

There are typically four types of CSR:

– environmental sustainability initiatives

– direct philanthropic giving

– ethical business practices

– economic responsibility

Pyramid of corporate social responsibility

The modern definition of CSR is derived from the book, “Pyramid of Corporate Responsibility,” by Archie Carroll, a well-known business professor at the University of Georgia.

In his book, Carroll states that, within this pyramid, a corporation has four types of responsibilities. The first is the economic responsibility to be profitable. The second is the legal responsibility to obey the law. The third is the ethical responsibility to do what is right, even when not legally required, and the fourth is the philanthropic responsibility to give back to society for social, educational, recreational and/or cultural purposes.

Corporate Social Responsibility Examples

Reducing carbon footprints
Improving labor policies
Participating in Fairtrade
Charitable giving
Volunteering in the community
Implementing corporate policies that benefit the environment
Engaging in socially and environmentally conscious investments

What are some benefits of CSR? CSR is not only beneficial for society; it’s also beneficial for corporations and their employees as well.

A few benefits of CSR include:

better brand recognition
positive business reputation
increased sales and customer loyalty
greater ability to attract talent and retain staff
increased creativity within the workplace

Corporate social responsibility initiatives that support children in need are an important part of giving back to your community and the world.

By partnering with us as a corporate sponsor, you help meet the needs of the children we serve so that they may grow, learn and have the opportunities in life that they deserve. Additionally, our organization can promote the partnership to increase your company’s brand recognition.

Most often, companies choose to sponsor a whole project rather than individual children. This approach allows a company to have a significant impact on the lives of many children and even on whole communities. We aim to work with you as a team to bring basic needs assistance and programs that teach self-sustainability to children and communities in need.

Corporate social responsibility examples that support children

Our work supports children around the world. Over the past years, corporate partners have allowed us to:

Internationally:

– Support five feeding programs serving over 300 children in the Philippines, Kenya and Ethiopia

– Fund the construction of housing in Honduras

– Purchase 600 pairs of shoes for children in Latin America

– Provide 1800 mosquito nets for children in Kenya

– Build a roof over a school playground to protect children from harsh weather in El Salvador

– Implement a food preparation skills training program in Bolivia and a dressmaking program in Guatemala

– Construct a classroom equipped with audio-video equipment in Argentina

– Improve the infrastructure of a girls’ home in India including upgrades to the kitchen, halls, dorms, bathrooms and the roof

If your company is interested in partnering with Children Incorporated to begin or expand your engagement in CSR, contact us today. Together, we can change the lives of children living in poverty and give them education, hope and opportunity.

United States:

– Provide backpacks full of food for children to take home on the weekends in New Mexico, Arizona and Kentucky

– Assist with beds for children in need in our Appalachian and Urban Division

– Purchase equipment for a STEAM Lab in Eastern Kentucky

– Send children to a district-wide summer arts camp in Kentucky

– Purchase iPads for children in Kentucky

– Provide audiobooks and matching paperbacks for students in Arizona

If your company is interested in partnering with Children Incorporated to begin or expand your engagement in CSR, contact us today. Together, we can change the lives of children living in poverty and give them education, hope and opportunity.

Call our office at 1-800-538-5381 to speak with one of our staff members or email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org.

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