Tag Archives: poverty

Shelley Callahan | October 11, 2020

We are pleased to share with you our 2020 Fall Newsletter! Thank you for support children in need around the world during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Amidst school closures across the U.S. this past spring due to COVID-19 lockdowns, our concern turned to how to best help children who are already living in vulnerable situations.

Fighting Against Hunger During the Pandemic

Amidst school closures across the U.S. this past spring due to COVID-19 lockdowns, our concern turned to how to best help children who are already living in vulnerable situations.

Many children in our program rely on school lunches and on our Backpack Feeding Program to ensure they are receiving adequate meals throughout the day and on the weekends. Without the support they receive at school, they risk facing hunger at home.

Children in Guatemala have been receiving food thanks to donations from our amazing donors.

Thankfully, because of our sponsors and donors, and the hard work of our volunteer coordinators in the U.S., students continued to receive food through the spring and into the summer and fall.

Thank you for all that you do to help children in need!

Our Response to COVID-19 in Guatemala

We are grateful for the support that our sponsors and donors are providing to families in Guatemala — and all over the world — through donations to our COVID-19 Response Fund.

Thanks to you, our affiliated projects in Guatemala have been able to purchase food, hygiene items, and other necessities for children and their families during the pandemic. This help is crucial for Guatemalans at this time, as our Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, explains:

“Almost half of the population in Guatemala are low-income earners, and the percentage of people receiving aid is minimal. No one having an income above the minimum wage of about US $220 a month has received any government support.”

We are grateful for your vital support during the COVID-19 crisis — we couldn’t provide life-changing support to children in need without your help.

Alleviated Suffering in Bolivia During a Difficult Time

We heard from our volunteer coordinator at our affiliated project, Cristo de Rey in Bolivia, about the support our donors are providing to children and their families during the COVID-19 outbreak:

Protective and hygiene items have been just some of the supplies children have received during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Good afternoon! I want to inform you that the Children Incorporated program is supporting children with the distribution of food and hygiene items.

The situation of the pandemic in Bolivia is very complicated. Families suffer a lot because they are people with very low resources. They generally live on what they earned from what little they sell. Now it is forbidden to go out to sell and they have nothing to subsist on. As you can imagine, the families are very grateful for the help and support they received. Thank you for your help!”

Children Incorporated Happenings

*The Children Incorporated family mourns the loss of George Saunders, a long-time employee who passed away on June 6, 2020. Mr. Saunders served as our accountant and bookkeeper for a period of 27 years, prior to his retirement in 2009. He maintained close contact with Children Incorporated in the years that followed, often attending employee functions, as well as sponsoring children. He will be greatly missed.

*Our Board of Directors welcomed three new members in May. Mr. Wayne Huggins, Ms. Salley Mountcastle, and Dr. Theresa Steward will now work alongside our seven existing members in supporting the work of our organization as we strive to improve the lives of children and families, both in the U.S. and abroad.

*Children Incorporated has once again been awarded 4 Out of 4 Stars by Charity Navigator. This is the fifth consecutive time that our organization has received this honor.

Children Incorporated has once again been awarded 4 Out of 4 Stars by Charity Navigator. This is the fifth consecutive time that our organization has received this honor.

*We would like to send congratulations to our long-time sponsor, Rosanne Cash, who has been selected to receive the prestigious 61st Annual Edward McDowell Medal. The award, which has previously gone to such luminaries as Aaron Copeland, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Berstein, and Georgia O-Keefe, honors artists who have made outstanding contributions to American culture, as Rosanne surely has through her music and compositions. We thank Rosanne for sponsoring children and changing lives through her support of our organization, now for thirty years and counting.

*Children Incorporated continues to work towards expanding our sponsorship program to include projects in Puerto Rico, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak, plans have been postponed. We remain committed to getting the program off the ground as soon as possible and continuing our work on the island, which has been hard hit by natural disasters. If you would like to be added to our waiting list of those who wish to sponsor a Puerto Rican child, please contact us today. We will share further details about our work in Puerto Rico as it becomes available.

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Shelley Callahan | September 20, 2020

Our sponsors are incredibly important to us, and we consider each and every one of them to be a part of the Children Incorporated family. We cherish what these caring individuals are able to do for their sponsored children not only during their lifetimes, but after as well.

Today we share stories of two of our very special sponsors who passed away this year and were able to continue to help children in need through legacy giving with our organization.

Today we share stories of two of our very special sponsors who passed away this year and were able to continue to help children in need through legacy giving with our organization.

Committed to helping

Ms. Norma J. Henkle, of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, passed away in March. Ms. Henkle had been a sponsor since January 1995. She had sponsored twenty-two children in the 25 years she was a sponsor with our organization. She was very loyal to the children she sponsored, always sending them birthday and holiday gifts.

Ms. Henkle was born and raised on a small family farm south of Rhinelander where she lived her entire life. She never married and never had children. She lived a frugal lifestyle and invested her money wisely. As a result, she was able to accumulate a sizable estate. At her death, her life savings was divided among ten charitable organizations that she loved and supported over the years. Children Incorporated was one of them. Ms. Henkle’s gift was a little over $200,000 which will go towards supporting some of the most impoverished children in the world for decades to come.

Continuing to help Sarah

Pauline Brooks was from Richmond, Virginia. Although she had only been sponsoring with Children Incorporated for four years, she loved our organization as much as any other sponsor.

Legacy giving often means that our sponsors can continue to help their sponsored children beyond their lifetimes.

Since she became a sponsor, Ms. Brooks had been sponsoring the same little girl, Sarah*, from Kentucky, and she adored the child. Ms. Brooks always sent extra gifts for Sarah, as well as supported our Warm Clothing Fund, Shoes and Socks Fund, and International Feeding Program as her way of helping other children in need in our program.

Upon her passing over the summer, Ms. Brooks’ daughter decided to have monetary gifts in her memory sent to Children Incorporated to be used to continue Sarah’s sponsorship. So far, the memorial fund has raised over $1000, which will cover Sarah’s sponsorship for an additional three years — three years beyond Ms.Brooks’ life — and will carry her through her middle school years.

*Name changed to protect the child.

The power of legacy giving

No donation is too big or too small when it comes to determining how to leave a legacy with Children Incorporated. We are humbled that our dear sponsors are so passionate about our work that they would take the time to plan how they want to continue giving beyond their lifetime, knowing that they can rest assured that we will continue our work providing for children living in poverty in their name.

How can you leave a legacy gift with Children Incorporated?

By creating a legacy, you are making a significant contribution to the future sustainability of the work that is meaningful to you. If you are considering leaving a legacy gift to Children Incorporated when you are evaluating your personal, family, and financial needs, as well as your long-term charitable giving, we here to offer support. There are different options for legacy gifts, and they may provide significant tax benefits. Contact us today or read more below to find out more about leaving a legacy giving with Children Incorporated.

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Shelley Callahan | September 13, 2020En Español

Last year, Children Incorporated Director of International Programs, Luis Bourdet, and Director of Development, Shelley Callahan, visited our affiliated project, the Centro de Orientacion, in Manizales, Colombia.

“It was terrifying to think that these children and their mother lived in such an unsafe place,” said Callahan.

During their trip, they met with a family of two of our sponsored children who were living in a difficult and dangerous situation — and one from which they desperately wanted to escape.

“The home was in terrible condition. The children showed us a hole in the floor where the shack flooded every time it rained. They were at risk of the entire structure being destroyed in the rain. It was terrifying to think that these children and their mother lived in such an unsafe place,” said Callahan.

“When we returned to the United States, Luis spoke with our volunteer coordinator, Pilar, at Centro de Orientacion, to find out if the home could be repaired. She came back to him with the news that it couldn’t because the family didn’t own the property and therefore couldn’t make improvements on it. We were sure at the time there was nothing that we as an organization could do help improve their home.”

“What we didn’t realize at the time, is that Pilar was determined to get this family out of [harm’s way]. She contacted the local government to find out about housing options for the family, and within a few months, they were able to move. Once they relocated, Children Incorporated was able to provide support with household items as well as funding for some smaller necessary items so they could enjoy their new and safe home.”

About Colombia

Situated in the northwestern corner of South America, Colombia is rich in natural beauty, comprising rugged Andean mountains, lowland plains, sprawling Amazon rainforest, and coastline on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Archeological evidence suggests that humans have called this land home for thousands of years. Its modern history begins at the end of the fifteenth century, when Christopher Columbus and the first Spanish explorers arrived in the region, subsequently establishing the area’s first successful Spanish settlement in 1508. Spanish colonization continued for over 400 years.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Colombia gained its independence and established itself as South America’s first constitutional government. However, political instability in the mid-to-late-twentieth century led to the uprising of guerilla groups which have wreaked havoc through all manner of social injustice. Tragically, their targets are most often children. Kidnappings, human trafficking, recruitment as soldiers into paramilitary groups, and forcible participation in drug-trafficking rings are all too common realities for vulnerable and disadvantaged children in Colombia.

Kidnappings, human trafficking, recruitment as soldiers into paramilitary groups, and forcible participation in drug-trafficking rings are all too common realities for vulnerable and disadvantaged children in Colombia.

About Our affiliated projects

Rondon Center
Bogotá, Colombia

The Rondon Center serves as a beacon of hope to the surrounding community in Bogotá. The center’s mission is to provide a safe environment for the children of working mothers. By looking after the children’s immediate needs while providing the foundation for a brighter future, the center helps deserving families rise above the difficult circumstances from which they come.

Centro Primavera
Medellín, Colombia

Located in the large, industrial city of Medellín, Centro Primavera fills multiple roles, serving as a daycare and an afterschool enrichment center. While children receive nutritious food, medical care, and skills training, working mothers savor the peace of mind knowing that their children are safe, well cared for, and receiving the guidance and encouragement they need to become productive citizens.

Centro de Orientación
Manizales, Colombia

Centro de Orientación offers a source of hope in the large, central-highland city of Manizales. Established by an order of nuns, the center offers a place of protection and safety for impoverished mothers and their children. The facility functions as a community center to rehabilitate mothers who have fallen victim to the ravages of poverty, while helping their children become mature, confident, and educated young adults.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN COLOMBIA?

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

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | September 6, 2020En Español

In Honduras, where lack of adequate funding has led to inadequacies within the healthcare system, COVID-19 is a massive threat. For those Hondurans living in poverty, who rely on earning money daily to provide for their families, they often can’t stay home to protect themselves.

For those Hondurans living in poverty, who rely on earning money daily to provide for their families, they often can’t stay home to protect themselves.

Thankfully, our COVID-19 Response Fund and our incredible sponsors offer support to sponsored children, which relieves their parents from some of the enormous burdens they feel as they struggle to provide for their kids during a global pandemic. Our volunteer coordinators at our affiliated site in Honduras report to us that thanks to donations from Children Incorporated, they have provided hygiene items and food bags to families every week, which is helping to keep them safe and healthy during these unprecedented times.

About Honduras

Nestled in northern Central America, Honduras was once home to several Mesoamerican peoples – most notably the Maya. This ecologically diverse land – with its rainforests, cloud forests, savannas, mountain ranges, and barrier reef system off the northern coast – teems with life. Its wealth of natural resources is equally impressive, including a variety of minable minerals and agricultural exports such as coffee, tropical fruit, sugar cane, and lumber. Moreover, its growing textiles industry serves an international market. The nation’s wealth of natural beauty and resources, however, belies the dire poverty in which its people live. In fact, Honduras holds the unfortunate distinction of being one of the poorest nations in Latin America. This is due in part to its longstanding political instability, social strife, and economic issues, including fluctuating export prices, rising inflation, and unemployment. Other contributing factors include frequent natural disasters, widespread poverty, disease, and inadequate education, which results in a high rate of illiteracy.

Our affiliated Sites in Honduras

Siguatepeque Primary School
Siguatepeque, Honduras

Offering families in need food and hygiene items has been critical to their survival during COVID-19.

In the small, rural town of Siguatepeque, unskilled workers receive only a few dollars a day, a tragically typical wage. The poorest residents subsist on a daily diet of beans and corn, which only propagates the widespread malnutrition among area children. In 1970, a local church group recognized the dire need for education among the town’s most impoverished children and established Siguatepeque Primary School. Today, the school serves as a beacon of hope, not only providing for these deserving children’s most basic immediate needs, but also offering them the tools with which to build a promising future.

Maria Reyna Home
San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Founded in 1942 as a girls’ orphanage, the Maria Reyna Home cares for the area’s orphaned, abandoned or neglected children. The home serves as a safe haven, away from the slum housing, hunger, disease, crime, and pollution that are all-too-tragic realities in this region. Through education and moral support, these deserving girls receive the opportunity to rise above the difficult socio-economic circumstances from which they have come.

El Refugio Welfare Center
El Progreso, Honduras

El Refugio Welfare Center was established here in response to the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. This natural disaster claimed thousands of lives, causing catastrophic flooding and landslides. The damage was so extensive, in fact, that the Honduran president estimated that the storm set the nation’s economic development back a full 50 years. The progress of rebuilding homes and schools has been very slow, and residents here still grapple with the aftershocks of homelessness, disease, and heightened poverty. For this reason, El Refugio Welfare Center is a place where many of the town’s impoverished and abandoned children come to receive food, clothing, and educational assistance.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN Honduras?

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

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | August 16, 2020En Español

All over the world, our volunteer coordinators are taking on the massive responsibility of providing for children in our program outside of our affiliated projects — and for some, that means traveling quite a long distance to give aid to them and their families at their homes.

Our volunteer coordinator, Sister Deo, at Hogar Medalla Milagrosa in Paraguay, recently drove over two hours to deliver food and clothing to some very needy families. Accompanied by a social worker, they also spoke with the families about the sponsored children’s health, emotional states, and their virtual learning assignments. Sister Deo found that all of the girls who attend the Hogar Medalla Milagrosa Girls’ Home are doing well during COVID-19 restrictions.

Sister Deo wrote Children Incorporated an email about how she is helping kids in our program thanks to donations from our COVID-19 Response Fund.

Sister Deo wrote Children Incorporated an email about how she is helping kids in our program thanks to donations to our COVID-19 Response Fund.

A message from Sister Deo

“Good Morning!

We hope you are well and that this difficult situation we are going through will soon pass. I want to share with you photos of how we are working thanks to the valuable help of Children Incorporated. We bought food that we are sending to every girl and family. We purchased books so that the girls can follow their studies remotely in a virtual way with the teachers.

We also buy much needed personal toilet items for our girls.

Thank you for the support,

Sister Deo”

About Paraguay

Sister Deo delivers food to families in need in Paraguay.

Nestled in the heart of South America, Paraguay comprises an area roughly the size of California and is characterized by semiarid grasslands, forested highlands, marshlands, and rivers. Paraguay boasts a well-preserved indigenous identity and heritage, but a wide range of ethnicities call this small, landlocked nation home, including immigrants from Australia, Germany, Russia, Italy, France, and Spain. Paraguay’s rich cultural diversity and wealth of natural resources, however, belie the abject poverty in which the majority of its residents live. Many areas of the country remain underdeveloped, with inhabitants relying on subsistence farming for livelihood.

Today, Paraguay is one of South America’s poorest nations and is plagued by a history of bloody wars with neighboring countries as well as internal political instability, corruption and deficient infrastructure.

Our affiliated projects

Asunción School
Asunción, Paraguay

Established by the order of St. Vincent de Paúl, the Asunción School (or, as it is known locally, Santa Luisa de Marillac) serves the impoverished children of one of Asunción’s poorest neighborhoods. Many of these children suffer from neglect and malnutrition as a direct result of their parents’ poverty. The Asunción School truly serves as a beacon of hope, providing these deserving children with the basic needs, moral guidance, and well-rounded education that may help them rise above the difficult socio-economic circumstances from which they come.

Hogar Medalla Milagrosa
Asunción, Paraguay

Just as with the Asunción School, Hogar Medalla Milagrosa was established by the order of St. Vincent de Paúl to support children of Asunción, most of whom come from the streets or from broken homes where even affording food is a daily struggle. Founded in 1895, Hogar Medalla Milagrosa serves as a primary school and a boarding home for orphaned or abandoned children. It not only strives to provide for these deserving children’s immediate, basic needs but also instills moral guidance while equipping each child with a sound education.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN Paraguay?

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

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | July 28, 2020En Español

This story was written prior to yesterday’s horrible tragedy in Beruit. We have connected with our volunteer coordinators in the country who have informed us that our affiliated projects have not been affected at this time. We will continue to update our supporters as we find out more information.

With lockdown in place as of March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lebanon saw itself quickly decline into economic collapse — further damaging the lives of residents who were already suffering from job loss and financial insecurity. Banks restricted citizens’ access to cash, and at the same time, the value of the Lebanese pound plummeted.

We hear from our volunteer coordinator, Gladys, at the Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf (FAID), about how they are continuing to support children, in large part thanks to our donors, through the country’s health and economic crisis.

We hear from our volunteer coordinator, Gladys, at the Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf (FAID), about how they are continuing to support children, in large part thanks to our donors, through the country’s health and economic crisis.

“Unfortunately, the schools in Lebanon are closed until further notice, and we do believe it will be impossible to open again soon.”

“We are still delivering courses through our Facebook and other online groups specially designed for each grade.”

“Despite the situation in Lebanon regarding the economy and the virus, we have still been able to provide hearing aids to the children in our program, thanks to donations from Children Incorporated. We were able to take earmold impressions, as well [as hold] speech sessions and provide parental guidance [as] part of our outreach work with the Lebanese and Syrian refugees.”

About Lebanon

Renowned for its towering cedar trees, Lebanon boasts fertile valleys, snow-capped, ore-rich mountains, and — in a region where water is scarce — sixteen rivers that flow into the glistening Mediterranean Sea along Lebanon’s western coast. This small Middle Eastern country has an incredibly rich culture, evincing the influence of Greek, Roman, Arab, Ottoman Turk, and French culture. However, Lebanon’s wealth of diversity has also contributed to its turbulent history.

Lebanon continues to suffer repercussions of a history riddled with wars — both civil and international. Poverty, unemployment, and the ever-present threat of war are tragic realities in the country which have been exacerbated in recent months due to COVID-19.

Our affiliated projects

Thanks to our donors, we are able to provide support to our projects in Lebanon through the pandemic.

The Armenian Secondary School – Anjar
Anjar, Lebanon

In the 1930s, an influx of Armenians (a minority ethnic group in Lebanon) fleeing Turkey settled in Anjar, Lebanon, near the Syrian border. To this day, Armenian agricultural laborers who earn very little comprise an extensive portion of Anjar’s population. For this reason, the Armenian Secondary School serves as a beacon of hope. Serving both boys and girls of this impoverished and marginalized population, the school contains an attached boarding home for students whose parents cannot afford to send them to school. In conjunction with Children Incorporated sponsorship, the Armenian Secondary School provides these deserving children with opportunity through a well-rounded education.

Armenian Evangelical Schools
Beirut, Lebanon

The Armenian Evangelical Schools were first established in 1964 by the late Stephen Philibosian, a successful Lebanese-American businessman. In the years since their inception, these schools have enabled thousands of children in Lebanon to be educated.

The Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf
Beirut, Lebanon

Founded in 1957, the Father Andeweg Institute for the Deaf provides deaf children with basic education and specialized training to become self-sufficient. It plays a crucial role in giving these hearing-impaired — and often destitute — children the opportunity to rise above the challenging circumstances that they face.

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HOW DO I SPONSOR A CHILD IN LEBANON?

You can sponsor a child in Lebanon 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 Lebanon who is available for sponsorship.

SPONSOR A CHILD