Tag Archives: help children

Rachel Luginbuhl | August 12, 2025

Whether the children are in the United States or another country, they all deserve to be properly fed, clothed, and cared for, and with your help and through your kindness and generosity – Children Incorporated is steadily working to improve their lives. Whether during the busyness of the school year or the calm of summer days, all children deserve to receive a good education, live with a sense of hope, and pursue opportunities for their future.

recent International Visits

Our International team recently visited several locations, making sure each child in our program is given health and opportunities. On a recent visit to our affiliated sites in Kenya, they were able to witness the hard work of the coordinators working with the children everyday.

Unfortunately, the challenges faced by the families we support remain profoundly severe. Many children come from acutely under-served environments and dysfunctional family units, with minimal assistance from local government and community partners. The rising cost of living, compounded by extremely low household incomes, creates a dire situation for these families. Ethiopia presents a harsh economic landscape, characterized by a lower cost of living. Mid-level income families earn a meager $50 per month, with those at the lower end struggling with even less. Here, the impact of sponsorship is truly profound; it represents a substantial portion of a family’s monthly income and extends its benefits far beyond the individual child enrolled. It is, as described, “a God-blessing sent,” providing comprehensive relief and empowering entire households to meet basic needs and invest in their children’s future, and most important: their education!!

Sponsors serve as a vital lifeline for real people facing enormous challenges, and help to provide necessary resources to send children to school and ensure they receive nourishing meals – support that families would otherwise be unable to afford. This ongoing assistance offers a crucial layer of stability in an otherwise precarious existence.

U.S. SUMMER FEEDING PROGRAM

Summer in the U.S means students are at home but that doesn’t mean we aren’t active! Our Feeding Program is hard at work making sure children have access to food despite not being inside the classroom. Many will be participating in back to school shopping soon, we can’t wait to support them as they anticipate returning to school.

Be sure to check out our recent Facebook post about a student who was gifted a professional haircut to be looking his best for the first day of school.

End of the School Year

Students at the Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf in Lebanon are currently enjoying their summer break, which will continue until October. They shared with us several photos of the students celebrating graduation, having meals together, and spending time encouraging each other before the break. Despite the enormous difficulties in Lebanon this year, our sponsored students remain optimistic, and are incredibly grateful to their sponsors for providing them stability and a chance at education.

Welcome Liz!

At the Children Incorporated headquarters we have been so excited to welcome our new CEO into the office as she begins the transition into the position.

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Unsponsored Child Spotlight

“Alima” is from a small town in Chile, attending the Handicapped Children’s Center. She is one of 6 children her mother is raising alone. On the meager salary of a tailor, Alima needs a sponsor to help her with the supplies for her to continue school. With just two more years to go, her dream of graduating and becoming a nurse to work to help others can not be possible without you.

*Name has been changed.

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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 sponsorship department; email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org; or go online to our sponsorship portal and search for a child in that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Rachel Luginbuhl | July 19, 2025

U.S. Feeding program

Summer for the US affiliated sites is a much quieter time. Kids are out of school and our volunteer coordinators are receiving a much needed break before ramping up for the next year. Even though summer is relatively calm, Children Incorporated is still actively making a difference in the lives of many students and their families. Through our Feeding Program, many children receive nutritious meals, even when the school cafeterias they depend on so much are closed. Some of our coordinators also provide “summer bags” for some children, ensuring that their basic needs for hygiene and personal care items, as well as towels and swimsuits, are met. These small items bring normalcy and inclusion to their summer – they don’t need to be afraid of not participating due to something as simple as no swimsuit. As one of our coordinator explains:

Sponsorship doesn’t just meet needs, it restores hope, builds confidence, and creates opportunity

“At the end of the year students received some summer clothing and hygiene items, as well as a towel, swimsuit, and a fun activity. It makes me smile to know that they are able to have these experiences that they would not normally be able to all with the help of their sponsors.”

International Community Gifts

Our International sites also face challenges during the summer months and during breaks from school. For students at The Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf in Lebanon, summer is time away from the school dormitory, spent at home with the family. These children and their families rely on support from Children Incorporated to get them through the school year, and summer is no different. They are extremely grateful for the clothing and shoes they receive, the food they are provided, and some benefit from new batteries for their cochlear implants, even while away from school. Our sponsors and donors do so much to make this happen. One generous sponsor recently donated a generous community gift, and as the direct result, five of our unsponsored students at the Andeweg Institute are now receiving food assistance.

Affiliated Site Visits

Several times a year all of our directors travel around the world to connect and engage directly with the coordinators and students within our program. Keep following on social media to hear their stories of how children are being uplifted and supported to break the cycles of poverty.

Transition Letter from Ronald Carter

If you haven’t already heard, our current CEO will be retiring at the end of September and Liz Collins will be taking his role at President and CEO. Check out his letter to our sponsors, donors, and all upcoming participants in our organization here.

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Unsponsored Child Spotlight

This is Maria*. She is 13 years old and is currently in the eighth grade. In her home country of Honduras she resides at the boarding school with her four siblings. Her teachers describe her as intelligent and she loves playing soccer with the other students at her school. Maria has big dreams for her future, she dreams of becoming a lawyer and helping create a better world around her. This is an impossible goal without a sponsor to assist her achieve her ambitions. Sponsorship means young women like Maria can help change the world for future generations, and you can be the one to make that a reality.

*Name has been changed.

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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

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?

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 23, 2025

As Luis Bourdet and Yefiny Mena continue their visits to our affiliated sites in Guatemala, Yefiny writes about the Casa Central School, where an inventive program offers students the chance to help others in their own communities.

“One of our greatest satisfactions is knowing that helping these children will positively change their lives by helping them go to school and achieve their goals.”

In the heart of Guatemala City

“Casa Central is located in Guatemala City. At the moment, we have 69 children at this affiliation site. Our coordinator is Sor Alicia G. Morataya, who is also assisted by Lisbet A. Martinez. Our children here attend different schools that go from primary to high school grade. Besides helping the children, they perform other tasks and social work like providing food for homeless people of the community once a week.”

“The Casa Central School is located in the heart of Guatemala City and serves children from low-income families on the periphery of the city, mostly without a stable housing environment, permanent income, and steady provision of educational, nutritional, and health services. The Children Incorporated monthly support helps in the provision of food, school supplies, shoes, and clothing to the participant children,” said Yefiny.

“This is with the purpose of getting them ready to attend local public schools, with very few attending low-cost private schools in the area. Participant children in the Children Incorporated program attend school education all the way from kindergarten to 12th grade, which may prepare them for skill training or for university. However, many are prepared here to initiate the arduous labor life, at least with a high school diploma, which was never available to their parents.”

“The center has some support from a local university by providing students to complete their required practicum, mainly in the Social Services area of their careers. The Center is run by the Congregation of Sisters of Mercy, a Catholic Order dedicated to education, health, and community service missions. The Sisters also run a soup kitchen for indigents here, as well as a home for the elderly,” explained Yefiny.

“The center is a well-care section of the compound, with a large enclosed area for meetings and food distribution and small offices to do social service support and follow-ups. They also have a large kitchen where they prepare food for the indigents. The home for the elderly is in a different location from the center. Children at Casa Central meet here once a month to receive subsidies for nutritious food, hygiene items, clothes, shoes, and at the beginning of each school year for school supplies.”

“According to the coordinator, the help provided to all these children has been tremendous since many of their parents’ economies have been affected after COVID-19, making them struggle to provide for their basic children’s needs. One of our greatest satisfactions is knowing that helping these children will positively change their lives by helping them go to school and achieve their goals, giving them the possibility of having a better future for themselves and their families,” said Yefiny.

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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 that is available for sponsorship.

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.

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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | February 10, 2025

Our first day visiting our affiliated sites in New Orleans was a huge success and so much fun, and I woke up on the second and final day of our trip excited for what the day had in store for us. Just as we had done the previous morning, Shayne picked up Renée, Kris, and me at our hotel, and we drove with her to our first school, the Phillis Wheatley Community School, where we met Maria out front before going in to meet with our coordinator.

According to Odina, a lot of the ways she is able to look out for the best interests of the students are largely thanks to Children Incorporated sponsors.

Getting to Know phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley Community School is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans and has around 750 children enrolled. As a charter school, like the other charter schools in the city, children can come from any area of New Orleans to attend Phillis Wheatley, and the city school buses will offer transportation to students no matter where they are located.

The school is named after Phillis Wheatley, who is considered the first African American author of a published book of poetry in America. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of eight and brought to Boston, where she learned to read and write and eventually became a poet.

After we checked in at the front office, we were greeted by Odina, our volunteer coordinator, who took us to her office to discuss our sponsorship program and hear more about the particular needs of the students at her school. Odina explained to us that even though New Orleans is in the South and bouts of cold weather are limited, the need for warm clothing is still her greatest need and the area in which our sponsors help children the most.

It’s not just that the children don’t have warm clothing, Odina explained, but it is that when the weather does turn cold, the children stay home from school because of the lack of warm coats, long pants, or proper shoes. This exacerbates a problem that is already present with her students, which is with attendance. Living in poverty, as Odina described to us, already creates a lot of obstacles for students attending school regularly, so being able to help children overcome the barrier of not having adequate clothing is such a blessing.

Even though New Orleans is in the South and bouts of cold weather are limited, the need for warm clothing is still her greatest need and the area in which our sponsors help children the most.

Helping Parents in Need

As we continued to talk with Odina, she mentioned that one of the other things she feels she could use help with is getting parents involved in their children’s education, especially for those guardians and caretakers who suddenly become parents in emergencies.

Renée mentioned that our Hope In Action grant program could help with parenting classes. She described a program in Kentucky that we support called “Grandparents As Parents,” which helps older adults cope with taking care of young children and helping them understand positive means of supporting them in school and at home.

After our meeting, Odina took us on a tour of the school, where we met with some of our sponsored children in the hallways between classes. The children were happy to take photos with Odina, and it was apparent they thought a lot of her as not only a staff member at the school but as someone who looked out for them and their best interests. And, according to Odina, a lot of the ways she is able to look out for the best interests of the students are largely thanks to Children Incorporated sponsors.

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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

SPONSOR A CHILD