Tag Archives: hope

Shelley Callahan | January 26, 2017En Español

In 1997, Southwest Airlines distributed thousands of copies of Dr. Richard Carlson’s bestseller, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, to its employees — including pilot Don Wyatt of Palm Coast, Florida.

Inspired by the sentiment of the book, Wyatt wanted to give back. And since the late author was a strong supporter of Children Incorporated, Wyatt began to research the organization.

“There are many fine agencies to choose from, but my personal favorite is Children Incorporated… The experience has brought tremendous joy and satisfaction to my entire family.”

– Dr. Richard Carlson

After thoughtful consideration, Wyatt signed on. He currently sponsors four siblings — three sisters and a brother. They live in El Progreso, Honduras, a town still recovering slowly from the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Today, the population still grapples with the effects of homelessness, disease and continued poverty stemming from that natural disaster.

El Refugio Welfare Center opened soon after the hurricane to provide a place for poor and abandoned children to go to for food, clothing, and educational assistance. The center provides for the children during the day and invites parents to become involved at the center by providing support in childcare, hygiene and healthcare.

A sponsor since 1999, Wyatt has consistently gone above and beyond to help provide the siblings with the essentials they need to succeed. He is currently paying for one to attend college and plans to help the other three when the time comes.

We sat down with Wyatt to learn more about why he chose to become a sponsor, and what he’s learned along the way.

CI: How did you get involved with Children Incorporated?

DW: Like many other people, I learned about Children Incorporated though the book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. I acquired that book through my employer, Southwest Airlines, in 1997. The company thought so much of the book that they bought thousands of them for their employees. The book says to give back to others, and I was impressed with what the author said about Children Incorporated. I have contributed to other charities, and one of the things that I liked the most was that the money goes straight to the children.

CI: What do you know about Honduras?

DW: It was the first time I had been in Honduras in about three years. I am prior military and have lived all over the world. I am very familiar with how things are in underdeveloped countries. I have been to Korea and the Middle East, and I have seen poverty.

CI: What do you know about the childrens’ living situation?

Mr. Wyatt with his family and sponsored children’s family

DW: They live with their mother. She is the primary caregiver, and she has worked several odd jobs in El Progreso. Employment is hard to come by, so she has worked as a clerk in a grocery store, and a custodian at a hospital. But recently, the mother has had health problems. I don’t know how she helped the children when they were not old enough to take care of themselves.

They live in a very rough part of town, and it is amazing that they have somewhere to live at all. They rent the home. For a while they were squatting in a home, and they got into the program because they found an empty home right next to the coordinator’s home. She enrolled the children in Children Incorporated’s program, and then they eventually moved into a home that they could legally pay for.

CI: What do you know about El Refugio?

DW: I met an assistant coordinator, Trenie, who always arranged for a translator and a driver, and has always met me, and spends the whole time with me and my wife, and going about visiting the children’s homes. I have visited all of their schools, and I have taken them out to restaurants and water parks for a day of relaxation. The children are being provided for at the center after school with supplies, clothes and large bags of groceries on a monthly basis.

CI: What can you tell us about the children you sponsor?

The book says to give back to others, and I was impressed with what the author said about Children Incorporated. I have contributed to other charities, and one of the things that I liked the most was that the money goes straight to the children.

DW: Bernardo* was my first sponsored child, but he ended up dropping out of the program. I was asked if I was willing to sponsor a child in the same program in Honduras, which is when I learned about Samuel*. Over the course of a few months, I was told about some special needs of this family, and found out that he had three sisters as well. For about six months, I was only sponsoring Samuel, and then started sponsoring all the children — and that was in 2005.

Cándida* is the eldest of the four children. She was about eleven back then, and now she is 21. She is in her second year of the higher education program in university classes in El Progreso, where she studies information technology. When she’s not studying, she spends her time listening to music and watching movies with her friends.

Right behind her is Mariluz*, who just graduated last December. She’s also a movie buff. We got her a computer to help her with her studies.

Samuel is seventeen. He took an auto mechanics course in junior high school and is continuing his studies at a technical trade school, along with some regular classes.

Natalia* is the youngest. She’s in high school. Like any other teenager, she likes movies and listening to music — but mostly, she looks for simple things to do that don’t cost that much.

CI: Do you communicate with the children directly?

DW: Yes, I try to write them at least as often as they do, if not more — six to eight times a year, and then on birthdays and holidays as well. I tell them a little bit about my life and what I do, and I take pictures of the cockpit of the airplane and send those, and ask them about their health and happiness, and try to encourage them in school. I am hopeful that it will provide some additional opportunities for them.

CI: Do they write back? What do they say to you?

DW: The letters are normally eight to ten lines long, and they give a brief sentence of how they are doing. And then say they hope my family is happy and healthy.

CI: What advice would you have for someone reading about you and your sponsored children, and considering sponsorship?

DW: Children Incorporated is extremely responsive. They welcome inquiries, pass along concerns and are willing for me to get more personally involved with the needs of the children. I am very happy being associated with Children Incorporated, and I feel that the organization has a great history, and every dollar goes to the direct needs of the child.

People contribute to charities for a lot of different reasons. If you are the type of person that wants to become more involved on a personal level, Children Incorporated lets you do that. Often with other charities, you don’t feel like you have a personal impact. With Children Incorporated, you can be more than just a contributor of money.

* Names changed for children’s protection.

***

HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN HONDURAS?

You can sponsor a child in Honduras in one of three ways – call our office and speak with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381, email us at sponsorship@childrenincorporated.org, or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and search for a child in Honduras that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | January 11, 2017En Español

On our site visit to Guadalajara last year, we met young Renaldo*. The five-year-old is the youngest of three children in his family, and he attends the La Luz (in English, “The Light”) Children’s Home, a home for children who have one or both parents serving time in prison.

When we met Renaldo, he was making a special picture for his sponsor, Stephen Suelzle, a printer who lives 2,469 miles away from him in Portland, Oregon. Thanks to Suelzle’s sponsorship and the extra monetary gifts he provides, Renaldo regularly receives clothes, shoes, and toys, which are all purchased by our volunteer coordinator at La Luz, Sister Nellie.

I send extra money each month, besides the sponsorship amount, so he can get extra things he might need, and then I also send extra for his birthday and Christmas.

Suelzle has been a sponsor through Children Incorporated for more than a decade, helping kids in Brazil and Mexico. Our Director of Development, Shelley Callahan, contacted him to find out more about how he discovered Children Incorporated, his relationship with Renaldo, and what sponsorship means to him.

SC: How did you get involved with Children Incorporated?

SS: Around twenty years ago, I met a young man, through mutual friends, who was from Brazil. He was only here a short time, and without proper permissions. He just really wanted to see America. We spent a lot of good time together. But eventually, immigration made him go back. I have always wanted to sponsor children. So initially, I started sponsoring boys in Curitiba, Brazil to sort of remember him.

SC: Had you previously sponsored a child?

SS: No. This was the first time.

SC: Is Renaldo your first sponsored child with Children Incorporated?

SS: No, there were at least three others. They were all boys who were a wide range of ages. The first were from Brazil, and then later, Mexico. I originally asked for boys from Brazil, and let Children Incorporated decide beyond that, because I knew they would know best who needed help. Children Incorporated suggested someone from Mexico, and that’s how I started sponsoring boys at La Luz.

Ranaldo with his family

The more I heard about the La Luz Home, the more I liked it. I especially liked that it sounded much more like an extended family situation (because of the adults who work there, and other children who are there), as opposed to someplace to just stick kids who had nowhere to go.

SC: What do you know about Renaldo?

SS: I know he’s five years old, and in his third year of pre-school. He always sends me drawings and colorings. I seem to remember soccer being mentioned, too.

SC: What do you know about his living situation?

SS: Only the basics. He stays at La Luz during the week, and goes home to his mother on the weekends. I think his siblings stay there, too. I don’t know the names or ages of the rest of his family.

SC: Do you know where his father is, or what happened to him?

SS: Because of the nature of La Luz, I assume he is in prison, or in a similar situation. But I don’t know anything else.

SC: Do you communicate with Renaldo directly?

SS: I haven’t so far, because he was so young. But he is old enough now that I think it would be a good idea – and to send him my picture as well.

SC: Does he send you letters?

SS: All the time. They always include a wonderful drawing, or something he has colored. I look forward to them, and keep them all in a photo album.

SC: What does he say?

SS: He always thanks me for helping him. In February, a social worker sent me a letter where they told me he had said, “I am very hard-working. I liked my gift very much.” In at least one picture, he addressed me as “Mr. Stephen.” I liked that. Mostly, he just says, “Thank you.”

If you decide you want to sponsor a child, then commit to doing it – making sure that the sponsorship money is there every month – because it is just as important as taking care of your own children.

SC: Are his letters in English or another language?

SS: The letters are always in Spanish, and translated into English [at the Children Incorporated office]. The writing that I assume to be his is pretty good for a five-year-old!

SC: Do you send him gifts?

SS: I send extra money each month, besides the sponsorship amount, so he can get extra things he might need; and then I also send extra for his birthday and Christmas. The coordinator at La Luz takes care of purchasing the gifts for him. In a way, it makes me feel like I won’t let him down.

SC: Does Renaldo ask for specific things, or does the volunteer coordinator pick things out for him?

SS: I always designate the extra money for something he might want or need. In other words, my hope is that the child would have some say in how the money is used. It’s important to have the things you need. But if possible, it can be huge to have something you really want every once in awhile at least, especially for a child.

SC: What do you know about Mexico?

SS: I couldn’t pass a history test about Mexico. I only know that when I visited there a long time ago, I felt so at home. I would have stayed if I could have. I have always enjoyed the company of Mexican people in my life, and have a good friend now who is from Mexico.

SC: What do you know about Guadalajara?

SS: Not very much, I’m afraid. I wondered what the neighborhood was like, and at one point, I used Google Maps/Street View to find out. It was so amazing to see the La Luz building and surrounding area. To be honest, it looked just like neighborhoods here in the U.S. Having that connection, even if only online, meant a lot to me.

SC: What do you know about the home he attends?

SS: I only know that it is for children who have one or both parents who are in jail. I don’t know anything about its funding or founding, or anything like that.

SC: What has surprised you most about La Luz?

SS: Everyone there – the children and social workers – seem to be so happy, and to be doing a good job. This isn’t really surprising, but rather something that makes me very happy.

SC: What advice would you have for someone considering sponsorship?

SS: If you decide you want to sponsor a child, then commit to doing it – making sure that the sponsorship money is there every month – because it is just as important as taking care of your own children. While I’m sure there are procedures in place to take care of the loss of a sponsor, I would never want to be the one to tell a child I wasn’t going to sponsor them anymore.

* Name changed for child’s protection.

***

HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN MEXICO?

You can sponsor a child in Mexico in one of three ways – call our office and speak with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381, email us at sponsorship@childrenincorporated.org, or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and search for a child in Mexico that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | January 3, 2017En Español

It’s hard to imagine a lack of food in the nation’s capital — but there is one.

A “food desert” is a place where fresh fruit and vegetables can’t be purchased, and Washington, D.C. is just such a place. Large parts of the city — specifically the poorer — don’t have grocery stores. Instead, they have corner markets where one can purchase snacks and some canned goods, but not nutritious whole foods.

“On average, we have between sixty and 100 families that attend our monthly market,” she said. “Many of our families have a lot of people living in the household, so one limitation of our particular market is that we cannot give out food in accordance to the number of people living in the home.”

“If families have transportation barriers or illnesses, or mobility problems or other barriers to getting out of their neighborhoods, what they’re limited to is these little corner stores,” said Renée Kube, Director of U.S. Programs for Children Incorporated. “For thousands of families in the city, fresh fruits and vegetables just can’t be found.”

Except at school.

Lucy Ellen Moten Elementary School is located in Ward 8 – one of D.C.’s poorest areas. But families there are getting fresh produce each month through the Joyful Market, a partnership program between Children Incorporated and local nonprofit, Martha’s Table.

Free Shopping

Florangel Cuesta-Smith, our volunteer coordinator at Lucy Ellen Moten, said the program serves about 150 families a month in a school of about 430 students.

Once a month, volunteers set up a market of fresh fruit and vegetables inside the school. Families — or the children — can come shop for their own produce, picking out the items they want.

Everything is free, and each family is allotted a certain portion based on the number of people in them. In many cases, parents or caregivers can’t attend, so the children can do the shopping for themselves with help from volunteers.

“Because the school offers a pre-K program, children as young as three often participate on their own,” said Cuesta-Smith.

Students “shop” for fresh produce to take home

“I pre-package the produce for the littlest ones so it’s not too much for them to carry,” she said. “They take it out with them to parent-pickup at the end of the day.”

“While some children do the shopping alone, in other cases, parents or guardians help with the operation,” Kubée said.

“It’s been very appreciated, and it’s also increased parent engagement, because parents are volunteering to come in and do set-up or clean-up,” she said. “That’s a big deal for a school that’s struggling to have a viable PTA.”

“That involvement has had positive repercussions for the school as a whole as well,” Kubée said. Parents have been telling school officials that before, the only interaction they ever had with the school was when their children were in trouble. Now, they’re working with teachers and officials in happier situations, forming bonds between the school and the families it serves.

Learning to Cook

Another reason for parent involvement at the Joyful Market is the guest chef.

Each month, Martha’s Table brings in a guest chef who prepares a healthy snack or meal using the items featured in the market.

Shoppers can try out banana apple smoothies or bean soup, or they can learn how to prepare and cook a butternut squash.

“The kids love that,” said Cuesta-Smith. “And the chef hands out recipes they can take home with them.”

“Allowing kids to try the food first, and letting adults see how easy it is to prepare has been a good way to encourage healthy eating,” Kubée added.

“‘You, too can try eggplant and love it!’ is an idea that resonates if the kids actually get a chance to try it first,” she said.

Portion Control

Nearby Hart Middle School also has a successful Joyful Market program, and coordinator Ashely Lyles, said they’re hoping for more funding to expand its portions.

“On average, we have between sixty and 100 families that attend our monthly market,” she said. “Many of our families have a lot of people living in the household, so one limitation of our particular market is that we cannot give out food in accordance to the number of people living in the home.”

“Currently,” she added, “a family of ten gets the same portions as a family of five, and that’s an issue they could fix with more money as the market grows in popularity. It would be great to be able to provide extra food for the families with lots of folks living in the home,” she said.

But the Joyful Market hasn’t worked everywhere, so Children Incorporated and local volunteer coordinators have branched out with alternative ideas.

“We all know intuitively that children who are hungry when they go to school cannot do their best work while in class,” Kubée said. “Relieving hunger is a vital part of our kids’ ability to develop, grow, learn, and thrive.”

Digging in the Dirt

On the other side of D.C., in Ward 1, the Cardozo Education Campus is a combined middle and high school where Children Incorporated helped create a school garden after the market didn’t work.

One of the problems was that many of the students there are homeless or live in shelters. “Because they can’t cook or prepare food in the shelters, take-home shopping bags full of squash or zucchini didn’t work well for them,” Kubée said.

So volunteers nixed the market, and instead built a school garden.

“When the kids grew their own fresh Roma tomatoes, they were more likely to eat them — especially when they could add basil and oregano that they’ve grown, and put the tomatoes and herbs on a pizza,” she said.

The garden is also being used by the science teachers, so kids get biology lessons from it as well.

“After you try new foods, you and your science teacher can take them apart and dissect them,” she said, noting that they use vegetables to learn about cell structure and functions. “It’s great hands-on learning.”

Across the Country

The school garden is an alternative that Children Incorporated has been using in rural food deserts as well. At the Saint Michaels Association for Special Education in Arizona, the school has built a handicap-accessible garden with paths and plant beds built for easy access by students in wheelchairs.

It’s all part of an overall plan to reduce food deserts and food insecurity nationwide.

“We all know intuitively that children who are hungry when they go to school cannot do their best work while in class,” Kubée said. “Relieving hunger is a vital part of our kids’ ability to develop, grow, learn, and thrive.”

***

HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN Washington, D.C.?

You can sponsor a child in D.C. in one of two ways – call our office and speak with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381, or email us at sponsorship@children-inc.org.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | December 20, 2016En Español

When the mothers of the CARITAS-Novo Milenio Center presented the community’s children with their signature jumbo-sized birthday cake, they had a lot to celebrate.

This year marked the fifth anniversary of the Grupo Art’Mulher, a group of women who formed a community bakery which sells cookies, breads, handmade pasta — and, of course, cakes!

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Freshly baked cakes by mothers of our sponsored children

Novo Milenio is a poor district outside of Lages, Brazil, a country that simultaneously contains some of the world’s richest culture as well as a disturbingly high level of poverty. The Catholic Church established the CARITAS-Novo Milenio Center to oversee some of the efforts to care for this community at a nuclear-family level, focusing on both child and parent alike.

A priest from the Caritas diocese and a volunteer coordinator keep the place running, with indispensable help from community members.

“The community is very united,” says Andreia Beraldo, International Programs Project Specialist for Children Incorporated. “I could see on my first visit that they’re always working together.” This collaborative spirit is part of the reason Children Incorporated was so interested in getting involved with CARITAS-Novo Milenio in the first place. A willing, creative, and practical community helps spread a program’s reach and deepen its impact.

“The community is very united,” says Andreia Beraldo, International Programs Project Specialist for Children Incorporated. “I could see on my first visit that they’re always working together.”

By early 2016, Children Incorporated had funded a successful tutoring program for the eighty children who attend the center, a vegetable garden project, and (through sponsorships) helped cover the costs of food, clothing, shoes, school supplies, and other necessities.

So when CARITAS-Novo Milenio proposed the idea of a mother-run bakery that would teach business skills and a trade while generating income, Children Incorporated was ready to get on board.

Teach a Parent, Impact a Child

It’s well-known among those who practice social work with Brazil’s children: if you teach skills to parents, you not only benefit their children’s lives, but you also help another generation of Brazilians become more self-sufficient. Of the five projects Children Incorporated supports in Brazil, three of them focus on developing both the parents’ and children’s skills — all with encouraging results.

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The bakery is improving the lives of women economically

But the bakery, which would be called Grupo Art’Mulher (literally, “Women’s Art Group”), would do so much more than just teach these mothers how to bake. The twenty women who became the program’s first participants were taught how to achieve economic solidarity through the manufacturing and sale of baked goods. The plan was to have a teacher instruct the women on baking cookies, breads, and cakes — and how to sell them.

And sell them, they did! Art’Mulher began making a name for itself at the local market, where its cakes, breads, and pasteis were in high demand.

Of that first group of twenty, many did find jobs making food – and they also found themselves returning to participate in center activities.

“Their increased self-esteem was visible,” remembers Maria Aparecida da Fonseca, the center’s volunteer coordinator. “And this is strengthening the Novo Milenio community.” She credits the program and others supported by Children Incorporated at the center for motivating families to tend to their home gardens, make more nutritious food, and even sell some of their produce at farmers’ markets, and increasing their income.

“Their increased self-esteem was visible,” remembers Maria Aparecida da Fonseca, the center’s volunteer coordinator. “And this is strengthening the Novo Milenio community.”

What’s Next for Novo Milenio?

The eight women who currently bake for Art’Mulher will have good news: the community bakery will be funded another year. But CARITAS-Novo Milenio won’t stop there in 2017; their plan is to initiate music and theater courses in a house across the street from the center. The renovation of that house is also in the plan, and the Art’Mulher mothers’ have donated a small percentage of their bakery income to that very project. That extra space would come in handy, giving the center more space to help more children with more activities.

The ladies from Art’Mulher are sharing the recipe for their popular birthday cake for you to try on your next special occasion:

White Birthday Cake

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups (215 g) flour

1 1/3 cups (275 g) sugar

1 tbsp + 1 tsp (10 g) baking powder

¼ cup (65 ml) water

6 eggs

1 can dulce de leche

Whipped cream or icing to cover the cake

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using a mixer, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, water, and eggs in a bowl for 10 minutes on medium speed.
Pour batter into 8” cake pan.
Bake until cake is golden brown and springs back from the touch – about 35 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely on rack.
Separate into 2 layers and fill with dulce de leche.
Frost with whipped cream or icing of your choice.

***

HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN BRAZIL?

You can sponsor a child in Brazil in one of two ways – call our office and speak with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381, or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and search for a child in Brazil that is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | December 13, 2016En Español

For most children, winter is a time of joy as they wait hopefully for snowfall and deep freezes. For those without warm clothes, however, winter is a season of cold and hardship.

That’s a problem volunteers and donors at Children Incorporated have been working to fix for almost 25 years.

Children Incorporated’s Warm Clothing Fund raised $35,000 this year to provide coats, gloves, boots, and other warm clothes to children in need. More than 3,500 children around the United States received items this year, each specifically selected for their own individual needs.

They include children who don’t have sponsors and children whose needs exceed their sponsorship.

“In most cases, we’ve found that the sponsorship funds are stretched to the limit,” said Steve Mitchell, Children Incorporated’s Sponsorship Manager. “Clothes, food, school supplies, and hygiene items – even for our sponsored children, sometimes it’s just not enough. And unfortunately, there aren’t enough sponsors for every child who needs help.”

So where sponsorship leaves off, the Warm Clothing Fund picks up. Any child in need, whether sponsored or not, can get brand-new winter clothing, purchased specifically for them, through the fund.

The fund focuses primarily on the Appalachian Region of Kentucky and West Virginia, the Navajo Reservation in the Midwest, and inner-city areas of urban centers like Detroit, but it includes other communities around the country as well. Children Incorporated also spreads the warmth in its own backyard, providing winter clothing for students in Richmond City Public Schools in Virginia.

“Clothes, food, schools supplies, and hygiene items – even for our sponsored children, sometimes it’s just not enough. And unfortunately, there aren’t enough sponsors for every child who needs help.”

Coming in from the cold

The children’s parents sometimes request help – but usually teachers see the need before anyone even asks. When that happens, the teacher talks to our volunteer coordinator at the school. Volunteer coordinators are school employees, such as guidance counselors or resource coordinators, who work with nonprofits like Children Incorporated to get help for individual children.

“In many cases, the coordinator may meet with the family to talk about the child’s clothing needs,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes the coordinator gets to take the child out shopping to pick out their own items. It’s not always possible, but when they can – talk about making a child’s day!”

In other cases, the coordinator selects and purchases shoes, gloves, a coat or a scarf – sometimes all of them – and gives them to the child. The items are always new, and are individually selected for each child, based on their needs.

New shoes – for the first time

Jefferey Jackson, the coordinator at Blackwell Elementary School in Richmond, told the story of a child who was sent to his office with shoes a size-and-a-half too small. He called Mitchell at Children Incorporated, and Mitchell told him to use Warm Clothing Fund money to buy the boy a new pair of shoes in his size.

“This young man was extremely pleased when presented with his new shoes. He accepted them with a pledge to always keep them tied properly,” Jackson said. “Not long after our exchange, he returned to my office with a letter of gratitude. In this letter, spotted with tears, he confessed that this was the first time that he has had a brand new pair of shoes that were not handed down from another source.”

Zero degrees at the bus stop

In the colder parts of the country, the need becomes even more acute.

Debbie Fluty, assistant coordinator at Sheldon Clark High School in Kentucky, said the Warm Clothing Fund provides boots, coats, and socks for students in life-threatening cold.

“Some have to walk out of mountain hollows to catch the bus because buses cannot get to them. They have to stand in zero degree weather at the bus stops,” she said.

And many parents won’t send their children out into the cold without proper clothes, so when the temperature drops, students don’t come to school at all, said Mary Valenza, coordinator at Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary School in Richmond.

Children Incorporated works to help as many children as we can by providing warm clothing during cold winter months.

“We know that chronic absences lead to poor grades, and poor grades often result in a student being retained,” she said, noting that having a reliable source for coats, hats, gloves, and scarves has made a difference in attendance.

Problem solvers

“The Warm Clothing Fund has been successfully solving that problem for more than two decades, because it’s the kind of situation that really resonates with Children Incorporated donors,” said Mitchell.

“There’s an immediate remedy,” he said, explaining why the fund has been so successful for so long. “A child is cold – they need a coat. It’s something they can wrap their minds around. They think, ‘I can do this.’”

“They can also see the results for themselves”, he said,” since volunteer coordinators send pictures of children showing off their new winter clothing. And since a child’s coat is affordable for most donors, it’s a clear, easy, commitment-free way they can solve a problem quickly.”

“The volunteer coordinators are the ones who know the children best, and who know what each one needs the most- what we provide just depends on the needs of the children,” Mitchell said. “We’re just here to help as best as we can.”

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How can I donate to the Warm Clothing Fund?

You can donate by calling our office and speaking with one of our sponsorship specialists at 1-800-538-5381 or by emailing us at sponsorship@children-inc.org. Also, you can make a donation through our donation portal online.

Ron Carter | December 7, 2016En Español

It’s not every day that a small nonprofit—even one that’s been around as long as Children Incorporated—finds out that they’re receiving a donation of $1.75 million.

Thousands of children will benefit from Mr. Foy’s donation.

I suppose that’s why I remember the day so well. We had been saddened in 2015 to hear of the death of Mr. Glenn Foy, an engineering innovator and adventurous spirit who had passed away at such a young age — just 59 years old — in a private plane accident. I had spoken to him only once, a few months before his death, and remembered him as a kind soul, committed to what we do, and a regular sponsor over the last decade. It wasn’t unusual for Children Incorporated to receive a bequest, although most tend to come from sponsors who have a much longer history with our organization.

Mr. Foy’s law firm informed us that we’d be receiving 28 percent of his estate to help children however we saw fit, which certainly made my eyes widen. It seemed like a large percentage for such a relatively recent donor.

The magnitude of Mr. Foy’s generosity has allowed us to go to new places, accomplish much, and impact the lives of not just children in need, but their families, their communities, and in some cases, generations to come.

But on the day we learned how that 28 percent translated into real dollars — 1.75 million of them to be exact— I was struck truly speechless.

Glenn Foy was an adventure-seeker, a cycling enthusiast, an aviator, a lover of life. His annual contributions impacted the lives of eight children over several years, but he was quietly generous, preferring not to receive attention for his philanthropy. His supportive family, I hope, will indulge me the attention I want to give to him now.

The magnitude of Mr. Foy’s generosity has allowed us to go to new places, accomplish much, and impact the lives of not just children in need, but also their families, their communities, and in some cases, generations to come.

Our Hope In Action Fund is, essentially, money set aside to use in tackling an ever-growing list of programs to support, centers to build or improve, and projects to get off the ground. We chip away at it, sometimes even making great strides; but this year, we turned so much of that hope into impactful, measurable action.

Glenn Foy’s Legacy in Action

Pinagpala Center, Philippines

Because of Mr. Foy’s gift, we were able to construct a two-classroom daycare center in Tagaytay City, Philippines. Mothers in this struggling area now have a safe place to leave their children as they seek employment or go to work. Every day, you can find children learning and playing at Pinagpala Center, which also provides a nourishing feeding program to improve the health of each child.

Marching Band and Classrooms at Juan Apostol, Guatemala

Children in Guatemala will benefit from new musical instruments.

School and community leaders in Guatemala City have come up with a unique way to encourage student participation in school—the Juan Apostol Marching Band. This band’s talents have become known throughout the country, and playing in the band has become the goal for so many students, which, in turn, encourages students to apply themselves academically (you have to show an “A” grade average before you are eligible to participate; Mr. Foy’s gift allowed us to purchase instruments for the band). At the same school, we also built two new classrooms.

Fruit and Vegetable Garden Program, Ethiopia

Multiple generations will benefit from the produce-bearing garden at Kids Hope–Ethiopia. The community surrounding the center is desperate for agricultural knowledge and supplies. Not only will this garden provide food for the children who attend Kids Hope, but it will also serve as a learning experience for the community.

Biofuel Plant, Kenya

This year, we were able to build a biofuel plant at Maria Immaculata school in Nairobi. Biofuel means energy taken from burning the gases emitted from organic matter – in this case, cow manure. It sounds unpalatable, but these enterprising Sisters figured out a way to keep their costs lowered and introduce more sustainable solutions. And we were there to help.

Dandora Medical Clinic, Kenya

The Dandora Community Center holds a special place in our hearts, and renovating their medical clinic helped the center make huge gains in Nairobi. Attendance is booming, which means healthier children and healthier families. Healthy kids spend more time in school, which leads to better-educated generations, which leads to a brighter future for the whole community.

Water Purification Plant, Kenya

At St. Nicholas School in Msamaria, Mr. Foy’s gift allowed us to move forward with plans to repair a water purification plant. The school’s commitment to self-sustainability keeps costs low while teaching children valuable life skills.

Student Attendance Program, Kentucky

Students in Kentucky will benefit from Mr. Foy’s donation.

At Martha Jane Potter Elementary School, one volunteer coordinator hit upon an idea for a motivational program that would help encourage attendance. Until that point, attendance had been sporadic at best, particularly during standardized testing. We funded the program, the experiment worked, and we expect the school to try it again next year.

College/Career Awareness Program, Kentucky

Rural Kentucky has a tough time in their struggle with poverty, and we find a lot of the same problems in our country’s rural poor areas as we do abroad. Children without resources, struggling their best to survive, when just orienting them towards other futures often makes a lasting impact. We helped a coordinator at Carr Creek Elementary School establish a program that exposes children to various careers, takes them on tours of community colleges, and even helps their parents with career readiness.

After-School Program, New Orleans

The Encore Academy wanted a way to increase its students’ academic success and social and emotional well-being, and they found it through homework assistance and enrichment activities including computer coding and expressive writing. We proudly funded this program, which also includes gifts of clothing-and now thirty participants are benefiting from it. Gifts of books for the school library extend the program’s impact to the entire student body.

Disaster Relief, Baton Rouge

We’d planned to work on a project at Friendship Capitol Academy, but when the floods struck this summer, we shifted our focus to disaster relief. Approximately forty children in grades nine through twelve received practical assistance (clothing, food, cleaning supplies, and hygiene items), as well as support, comfort, and motivation to attend school, despite the upheaval of the world that surrounds them.

Kindergarten “Boys Club,” Washington, D.C.

At Lucy Ellen Moten School, a coordinator noticed that kindergarten-aged boys were having trouble adjusting to the routine and the structure of a school day. What’s more, they tended to take their overwhelming feelings out by pushing, hitting, or biting. Early intervention was identified as the key to helping these boys express themselves more healthily.

Making your Own Legacy

Glenn Foy had never seen our Hope In Action Fund list, yet he chose to leave such a substantial amount to an organization he believed in. Why? How could he have known what an impact his gift would make?

We may never know the answer, but I’d guess that it’s because Mr. Foy witnessed the power of much smaller sums. And I’d guess this because I hear it from our sponsors all the time. They love how connected they feel with their sponsored children, and they know they can trust us to address specific and individualized needs for each and every child. It’s that relationship that keeps our donors engaged for lifetimes (there really is a rather extraordinary number of sponsors who have been with us since Children Incorporated began in 1964!).

They love how connected they feel with a child, and they know they can trust us to address specific and individualized needs for that child.

This year, we’ve launched our On the Road series to show the impact of your contributions to the lives of the children we serve around the world. The dispatches are often inspiring; other times, they convey the honest exhaustion and discouragement that come from the burden of poverty. But time and time again, they always find hope.

In this season of gratitude, we urge you to take a few minutes to think about your legacy. Do you have a plan to make what you’ve earned throughout your life count long after you’re gone?

Whether you make arrangements to have the children you sponsor supported until adulthood or whether you’re more interested in donating a lump sum to support our chosen programs the way Glenn Foy did—no gesture goes unnoticed and no effort goes unused.

We approach each new year with hope. In 2016, we were able to turn an unprecedented amount of hope into action. One man’s decision made that possible for children in so many countries around the world. At every level, we’re counting on the continuing generosity of all of our sponsors and donors to keep that momentum going in the years ahead.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD THROUGH CHILDREN INCORPORATED?

You can sponsor a child with 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 sponsorship@children-inc.org, or go online to our donation portal, create an account, and search for a child that is available for sponsorship.

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