Tag Archives: help children in the united states

Ron Carter | June 10, 2023

Dear Friends,

Each summer, as the time for a new school year approaches, businesses launch their latest “Back to School” sales pitches. They roll out the big promotions to encourage consumers to purchase everything from pencils and pens to backpacks, calculators, and laptop computers. Many states even have days when they suspend sales taxes to encourage greater spending on these school items. According to the National Retail Foundation, people in the United States spent an astounding $37 billion dollars on back to school supplies in 2022. That breaks down to roughly $864 per student, up from nearly $200 from just two years before.

The strong need for support

For families already living in poverty and struggling to just get by, back to school shopping is a huge burden; in fact, they often just cannot do it.

For families already living in poverty and struggling to just get by, back to school shopping is a huge burden; in fact, they often just cannot do it. When we visit with our voluneer coordinators at our affiliated site locations, many which are school-based, we often hear stories of how many children do not have the supplies they need to do their schoolwork. Though most schools now provide access to computers and laptops that students may use, many young learners still lack basic educational materials. These items are essential to students not only being prepared for class, but without them, they may feel ashamed or embarrassed to be lacking where their classmates are not.

With our help, children can start the school year off right, thanks to donations to our Back to School Fund.

Our volunteer coordinators do their best to maintain a supply of composition books, notebook paper, pencils, pens, rulers, glue sticks, staplers, and backpacks in their offices to meet the many needs of these children. They also maintain essential clothing such as pants, shirts, underwear, shoes, and socks for those children whose own wardrobes are worn, dirty, or ill-fitting. Snacks such as granola and protein bars and juice boxes are also badly needed as children return to school each year and throughout all of the months that follow. But sometimes, there is just not enough. This is where Children Incorporated comes in.

our Back to School Fund to the rescue

Money contributed to our affiliated school sites, all thanks to Children Incorporated donors, enables our coordinators to stock their shelves and supply closets at the beginning of the school year and beyond. This is why our Back to School Fund is an absolutely essential part of what we offer and why we are asking for your support of this essential fund.

If you can, please consider what you can afford to give in support of our Back to School Fund, and know that your dollars are contributing to the growth of future generations of leaders. When we help students start the school year off right, we set a path for them to stay confident for the entire year. Together, we can make a huge difference.

Thank you for your loyal support of children in need.

From the heart,

Ronald H. Carter
President and Chief Executive Officer
Children Incorporated

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Ron Carter | May 15, 2023

It is hard to believe that 2023 is the 20^th anniversary of my time at Children Incorporated – ten of which I have been blessed to lead the organization as our CEO and President.

I would love to ask that you consider helping me reach a goal of getting 20 children sponsored to celebrate 20 years of my time with Children Incorporated.

During my time with this incredible organization, I have been very blessed to work with some absolutely inspiring people and to be afforded many wonderful opportunities for personal growth. Children Incorporated has changed a lot over these last twenty years, and it continues to morph and rearrange as we adapt to the changing trends and interests of our wonderful and generous donors.

I am grateful beyond measure to work in a setting like Children Incorporated. I am surrounded by people whose passion is to change and better the lives of children and young adults, and I am personally seeing the good that we are able to do each and every day. I believe that we each have a responsibility to try and make our world a bit better.

To mark my time here, I would love to ask that you consider helping me reach a goal of getting 20 children sponsored to celebrate 20 years of my time with Children Incorporated.

I am truly thankful for Children Incorporated, and I thank each of you for your part in its continuing success!

From the heart,

Ronald H. Carter

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Ron Carter | March 13, 2023

Dear Friends,

My nineteen-year-old daughter, a sophomore in college, moved into a shared apartment back in the fall. Deciding which of her belongings to bring from home was a challenge because of the limited space in her closet and dresser at the apartment.

New needs arise each day, and Children Incorporated is there to meet as many of those needs as possible, often through this special outreach effort – our Clothing and Shoes Fund.

My family is currently in the process of downsizing to a smaller house, so we wanted my daughter to take as many of her personal belongings with her as possible. She was actually forced to get rid of quite a few quality items as she moved into her new residence because there simply was no room for them.

You see, my daughter loves clothes and shoes, and she has a lot of them. She likes nothing better than to scour the racks at thrift, bargain, and vintage clothing stores in search of discounted name-brands and stylish jeans, tops, outerwear and sneakers. This problem – having too many clothes and shoes – is definitely not one that the children enrolled in Children Incorporated’s sponsorship program ever encounter. In fact, many of them face just the opposite issue. Over the years, we have heard numerous stories of children with only one outfit suitable to wear to school, or of children whose clothes are threadbare and ill-fitting. We have even witnessed siblings who shared one coat between them, forcing them to alternate the days they attended school during the heart of winter.

Our Clothing and Shoes Fund provides for children in the United States and across the world.

It is a common theme, even today, in many of our U.S. site locations for children to attend school during the coldest months of the year without socks, wearing flimsy footwear such as flip-flops, and without jackets, coats, gloves, or hats.

Our Clothing Fund is one of the most important resources we have for helping children to dress appropriately, neatly, and warmly. This fund has provided pants, shirts, shoes and socks to thousands upon thousands of children in need. It was one of the first special funds that we created back in the 1960s and was originally called simply our Warm Clothing Fund. Over the decades we, through the incredible and continuing generosity of our sponsors and donors, have supplied children with coats and jackets, hats and gloves, and in some situations, sandals, shorts and t-shirts, to equip them for the weather where they live.

We come to you again, asking for your support of our Clothing Fund. New needs arise each day, and Children Incorporated is there to meet as many of those needs as possible, often through this special outreach effort – our Clothing Fund.

Our organization has repeatedly been recognized as an exemplary nonprofit by the major charitable monitoring groups, such as Charity Navigator and Charity Watch, because we take helping children seriously. Our mission is and always has been to improve lives and to offer hope and opportunity. We can only do these things with your help.

From the heart,
Ron Carter, President and CEO
Children Incorporated

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Children Incorporated | February 27, 2023

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

This past month, your donations have provided funds for an educational field trip to Washington, D.C. for students who attend Martin County Middle School in Kentucky, among so much more.

Beyond what our donors already provide to children through our sponsorship program, additional 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, you have:

– Provided funds to purchase food for an entire month for children at Santa Isabel Seton in Guatemala

– Provided funds for an educational field trip to Washington, D.C. for students who attend Martin County Middle School in Kentucky

– Provided funds to purchase food for children at the Armenian Secondary School in Anjar, Lebanon

– Provided funds to purchase food for a month for children at the Dandora Community Center in Kenya

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

– Provided funds to purchase food for a month for 25 children at the Fortune’s Children Center in the Philippines

– Provided winter boots and socks for students at the Dennehotso Boarding School in Arizona

– Provided funds to buy warm blankets for students at the Hanaa Dli Community School/Huerfano Dormitory in New Mexico

– Provided emergency funding for food for a newly enrolled sponsored child and her family at Morgan County Middle School

– Provided space heaters for a family in need at Baca Dlo’ay azhi Community School in New Mexico

… 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.

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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?

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Shelley Callahan | January 1, 2023En Español

Today, we hear from our U.S. Programs Director, Renée Kube, about how a Hope In Action Fund request from one of our volunteer coordinators is providing much-needed resources to one of the many impoverished families in Kentucky whose situation was worsened by devastating flooding to the region last year.

Renée’s letter

“Our amazing Volunteer Coordinator, Angie, at Morgan County Middle School, contacted me recently about a family who has been struggling, and she asked for some extra assistance.”

“Housing has always been difficult to find in eastern Kentucky, but the rental market has been even tighter since the terrible flooding last July.”

“The mother died last year. The father is trying to work and raise three children, but he has a limited education and few opportunities. The father had some financial setbacks, and they became homeless and were in a local shelter for about six weeks. The eldest child is enrolled at Morgan Middle School, and there are two younger children enrolled at Morgan Central Elementary School. Two of the three children are currently in the Children Incorporated sponsorship program and have sponsors.”

“Housing has always been difficult to find in eastern Kentucky, but the rental market has been even tighter since the terrible flooding last July. Families that were displaced from the counties that were hardest hit moved to the bordering counties that were not impacted as badly, including Morgan County. Rental costs have risen sharply.”

Help from the community and our donors

The two trailers are shown, one of which had no running water or a bathroom.

“Angie did a home visit to see the family, and sent a photo to accurately describe the dismal situation the family was in, as their only option was to move from a shelter to an old camper. Angie explained to me that they first moved into the smaller camper on the left of the photo, but it’s just a shell without running water, a bathroom or a bedroom. Then, the landlord moved the other camper onto his property. It’s better, with a slide-out that gives a bit more living space, but its condition is not great either. The family left the smaller trailer and is now renting the larger one.”

“Children Incorporated is providing a modest grant that will provide a couple of space heaters, blankets, some additional warm clothing, and food for this family to get through the winter, which should help them start to feel grounded again and more stable. Our amazing sponsors and donors make wonderful things just like this happen every day for families in our program and we are so grateful for their support.”

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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