Tag Archives: children

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.

***

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.

***

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 | 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!

***

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.

***

Shelley Callahan | January 15, 2023En Español

The year 2022 marked a return to in-person site visits for our International Division — first to Mexico in May and then to Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua in August.

“Although at times it is difficult because some of the families have to walk two to three hours to get there, they say the support is still invaluable to them, as those that live further away from the Center have the greatest needs by far.”

Today, we hear from our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, about his visit to the Santa Luisa Center in Costa Rica, almost exactly five years after the last trip to this site by our Director of Development, Shelley Callahan.

About Santa Luisa

“The Santa Luisa Center is managed by the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent of Paul,” said Luis.

“The Sisters run a nursing home to help low-income families in this rural part of Costa Rica, and along with the home for the elderly, they operate a center to support children so they can receive resources as well.”

“The Center is located about 220 kilometers from the capital city of San Jose, in an area known as Bambu, where social services and educational support are minimal. The roads from San Jose to Bambu are treacherous, and the drive takes about six hours,”explained Luis.

“Bambu is an agricultural town, where production of bananas is the main source of income for farmers. Although the Costa Rican government does have public schools available for the children in the area, they often have to walk a long distance to reach the schools, after having little or no food and school supplies due to poverty. The Children Incorporated sponsorship program supports their educational needs, and provides food and clothing for these children.”

Luis is pictured with our volunteer coordinator, a sponsored child, and a few of the mothers from the community.

Seeing the Center after many years

“The Center’s nursing home is well-cared for and has well-maintained buildings for the elderly.”

“Our sponsorship program is run in a section of the nursing home that has a hall where the sisters do activities with the children. They also host the children and their families on a patio for larger gatherings,” said Luis.

“The Center has a small kitchen to cook for the sponsored children while they are there and a small office/storage area where they keep food and school supplies purchased in bulk, so they can be distributed to the children on a monthly basis.”

“During my visit, we met with a few parents and children, but my visit was cut short because of the travel time to and from San Jose. But before I left, the parents shared that coming to the Center to get food, school supplies, and other commodities once a month is a blessing and a great support for the children’s education. Although at times it is difficult because some of the families have to walk two to three hours to get there, they say the support is still invaluable to them, as those that live further away from the Center have the greatest needs by far,” said Luis.

***

How do I sponsor a child in Costa Rica?

SPONSOR A CHILD

Children Incorporated | January 5, 2023

The small, landlocked nation of Bolivia comprises rugged Andes Mountains and vast, high-altitude plateaus to the west (including a portion of Lake Titicaca, the largest high-altitude lake in the world) and lush, lowland plains of Amazon jungle to the east.

Despite its wealth of natural beauty and resources, Bolivia bears the scars of centuries of conflict, beginning with the Spanish conquistadors and followed by almost 200 years of wars and internal military coups.

In Bolivia, children’s very lives and futures are at risk, as they struggle with poverty and a lack of educational resources.

Political and economic instability have brought about considerable poverty, resulting in widespread malnutrition, crime, and disease.

Challenges for Children in Bolivia

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

60% of Bolivia’s population lives in poverty
In rural areas, child poverty has reached as high as 80%
Children from low-income households often suffer from poor nutrition
and a lack of educational opportunities
During the pandemic, many secondary school students dropped out of school and sought
employment to financially support their families, halting their education

Our Work in Bolivia

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

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 our work to help children in crisis in Bolivia possible.

***

How do I sponsor a child in Bolivia?

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

SPONSOR A CHILD

SOURCES:

https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2017/03/22/opportunities-poor-children-youth-bolivia

https://www.unicef.org/media/115821/file/Bolivia-Plurinational-State-of-2021-COAR.pdf