Tag Archives: sponsorship

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?

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

Shelley Callahan | February 18, 2025En Español

After four wonderful visits to our affiliated sites in New Orleans, I couldn’t believe our trip was coming to an end as we arrived at our fifth and final school, Samuel J. Green Charter School. As we had done with all of our other visits, Maria met Shayne, Renée, Kristen, and me in front of Samuel Green before we entered.

As we made our way down the walkway, Renée noticed that the name Samuel J. Green Junior High School was carved into the building above the entrance, and commented to Shayne that it was so cool that the name of the original school was the same, even after the charter school system had been put in place so many years ago.

Our final school visit

Shayne agreed, telling us that it was unusual in New Orleans for schools to maintain their original names. It was also common for many charter schools to change their names multiple times, so this was indeed a special circumstance of Samuel Green remaining its namesake. Unlike some of the other schools we had visited as well, Samuel J. Green was not a newer school, and had some of the classic charm of an older, more established school building.

We all entered the school and checked in at the front desk, and then were greeted by our volunteer coordinator, Theressa, who escorted us to her office and resource center, where we chatted for a bit about the school and our sponsorship program.

Samuel Green is located in the Freret Corridor of New Orleans and serves students from all over the city from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. Theressa told us she loves the Children Incorporated program and the sponsors, and it is a delight to help the kids at her school. As with our other schools, she said that affording uniforms is the biggest issue for families with kids at Samuel Green. The uniforms cost roughly $60 each for pants or a skirt and a top, and some kids only have one uniform for all 180 school days in a calendar year. With sponsorship funds, Theressa is able to help ensure students have multiple uniforms, other clothing items such as jackets and long pants for colder months, and hygiene items and school supplies.

Theressa mentioned that the school also has a weekend feeding program for students so they don’t go hungry. Renée encouraged her to apply for our Hope In Action grant program to receive additional support for the feeding program or other needs that sponsored children might have, such as bedding or mattresses for their homes.

With sponsorship funds, Theressa is able to help ensure students have multiple uniforms, other clothing items such as jackets and long pants for colder months, and hygiene items and school supplies.

An edible garden to remember

Once we finished our meeting, Theressa brought in two of our sponsored children for us to meet, and then we took a tour of the school. We visited a few classrooms, the gym and cafeteria, and the cooking classroom where a group of students had just finished making guacamole with ingredients they had grown at the school.

Then Theressa led us outside, where I was stunned to see a vast garden filled with produce that the children helped maintain, and then used the vegetables and herbs to make food in their cooking class! This edible garden project, as Theressa described, was a huge success at the school, and something they were very proud to have as it not only taught children valuable skills like gardening and cooking, but allowed them to be outside and use their hands while learning, which can offer a good break from classroom learning.

As Theressa took us back to the front of the school, it was bittersweet to say goodbye to her and then to Shayne and Maria, who had been such wonderful hosts during our few days in New Orleans. Although our trip was coming to a conclusion, I couldn’t wait to get back to the Children Incorporated office to share stories, photos, and videos with our staff and our sponsors about all the fantastic work we are doing in the Big Easy, all thanks to the generosity of amazing donors.

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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

Shelley Callahan | February 3, 2025

It had already been a fantastic day visiting two of our affiliated sites in New Orleans, and we still had one more to do before returning to our hotel for the evening. Shayne, Kris, Renée, and I made our way from Foundation Preparatory Academy to Langston Hughes Academy in the Fairgrounds neighborhood of the city. When we arrived, we met Maria outside of the school, and we all went inside together, where we were greeted by our volunteer coordinator, Nicole, a soft-spoken yet very enthusiastic young woman who excitedly offered to take us on a tour of the school before we had our meeting and met with some of our sponsored children.

Because of their sponsors, they feel confident coming to school, enjoy learning, and, therefore, have ambitions and dreams for their futures.

Visiting our last school of the day

Langston Hughes Academy serves roughly 800 children from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade in an extremely large facility. The building itself spans over an entire city block and has everything from a cafeteria to a soccer field to a farm with goats and chickens. As Nicole showed us the gymnasium and a few of the classrooms, she explained that the students at her school, not unlike the other schools we work with in New Orleans, were most in need of basic resources such as hygiene items to get through the day.

More specifically, she said that there are students who come to school that have such poor hygiene that they distract the other students from learning and are removed from class and offered a shower at the school. Still, they don’t have a clean uniform to change into, so the problem persists for many of them.

The issue with poor hygiene isn’t only disruptive to children’s education, but it’s embarrassing for them and adds to the emotional stress they already feel. As Nicole explained to us, many of her students witness gun violence and have family members who have died — even other students have died, and the children are traumatized, living in fear and being scared something bad will happen to them, too.

Thankfully, because of Nicole and her background in counseling, her students can come to her to receive grief support and get hygiene items, some clothing items, and school supplies. Nicole also mentioned that our sponsorship program is a huge help to her students, and she wouldn’t be able to provide for many of them without their sponsors. She uses sponsor funds to buy soap, shampoo, and uniforms for the kids so they can stay clean, as well as rain jackets and long pants for rain and cold weather so they don’t skip school because they don’t have appropriate clothes to wear.

More needs to be met

Nicole mentioned that she would love funds to buy bedding for children and books for the scholastic book fair, and Renée happily mentioned that those would be perfect items for her to request through our Hope In Action grants program.

We ended our tour by visiting the school’s library, where we sat and chatted with Nicole. A few of our sponsored children then arrived to meet with us. We met Trisha*, who does really well in school and loves math. We also met Elenore, who loves going to English class and wants to be a hairstylist when she grows up.

Getting to meet these special girls was very rewarding. There is nothing like actually getting to know the students our sponsors help and understanding that because of their sponsors, they feel confident coming to school, enjoy learning, and, therefore, have ambitions and dreams for their futures.

*Children’s names changed to protect their privacy.

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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

SPONSOR A CHILD

Children Incorporated | January 29, 2025

Our volunteer coordinator, Heather, at Viper Elementary School in Kentucky, wrote to us to thank our sponsors, who were, and always are, especially a big help during the holiday season:

“Children Incorporated has been such a blessing for all sponsored students. Specifically, at Christmas, there was an abundance of students needing assistance this past year. I never have to worry about my Children Incorporated sponsored children getting help. I am blessed to have the funds to care for all of their desires and immediate needs. Parents know the funds are here when they need support, so they don’t hesitate to reach out if their child has outgrown a pair of shoes or if it is a change of season and the children need new clothes.”

“Not only me but the parents of these students will forever be grateful for the blessings Children Incorporated brings us.”

“One particular parent couldn’t thank me and Children Incorporated enough for not only the sponsor providing funding but for allowing her daughter to pick out her own clothes and what she liked and would actually wear. Another parent remarked on how her child’s day was made after receiving the new clothes and shoes she picked out and the positive impact this program had on the whole family. Not only me but the parents of these students will forever be grateful for the blessings Children Incorporated brings us.”

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 replenish the food pantry for children and their families at Westover Hills Elementary School in Virginia
– Provide funds to purchase hygiene ties and household supplies for a family in an emergency at Foundation Preparatory Academy in Louisiana
– Provide funds to purchase nutritious meals for 30 students at the Dandora Center in Kenya for one month
– Provide funds to purchase daily meals for 100 students at the St. John’s Community Center in Kenya for one month
– Provide funds to purchase nutritious meals for 25 students at Kids’ Hope in Ethiopia for one month
– Provide funding to purchase nutritious meals for 25 students for one month at the Fortune Children’s Center in the Philippines
– Provide funds to replenish the food pantry at River City Middle School in Virginia
– Provide funds to purchase meals for 30 students at Santa Isabel Ana Seton in Guatemala for a month
– Provide funds to purchase a basic washer and dryer for a family in need with a student who attends May Valley Elementary School in Kentucky
– Provide funding to purchase bedding, bed frames, and mattresses for two students at Wrigley 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?

SPONSOR A CHILD

Shelley Callahan | January 20, 2025En Español

After our wonderful visit to Arthur Ashe Charter School in New Orleans, it was time to move on to our second affiliated site — Foundation Preparatory Academy, which serves kindergarten through 8^th-grade students from all over the city.

Renée, Kris, Shayne, and I all got into Shayne’s car to make the short drive from the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans to the Fairgrounds neighborhood, where Foundation Preparatory Academy was located.

Those issues at home had a lot to do with living in impoverished households, where food was scarce, and overcrowded housing was common.

On the way, Renée explained to me that the site coordinator at the school had left the position and that our partner, Communities In Schools Gulf South (CISGS), was currently in the process of hiring a replacement. In the meantime, the Director of Student Services with CISGS, Amy, who was very familiar with working at Foundation Preparatory Academy, was going to meet us to talk more about how our sponsorship program was helping children at this school.

Meeting with Amy

When we arrived, we met with Maria in the parking lot, then we all checked in at the front office, and Amy greeted us with a student in our sponsorship program, Luke.* We started our visit by following Luke and Amy to the school’s resource center, where during her time working at the school, Amy would pull students out of class who needed to take some time away from other students and either talk with Amy or play games and relax.

When we walked in, the first thing I noticed was the shelves of books, puzzles, and other toys — inviting games that would make any child happy to have the freedom to play with for 45 minutes or an hour at a time. As we all grabbed seats at the round table in the middle of the room, Luke helped himself to a few puzzles he wanted to work on while we all chatted together.

Renée asked Luke what he thought of Foundation Preparatory Academy, and he said it was a wonderful school. He had been there for a year and loved it a lot. As Luke worked on his puzzles with intense concentration, Amy explained that a lot of her work with the students at the school supported them with problem solving, whether with things like puzzles or games or helping them talk through issues with other students or issues they have at home.

Those issues at home, as Amy told us, had a lot to do with living in impoverished households, where food was scarce and overcrowded housing was common. The kids often didn’t sleep well and would nap on the bus on the way to school, but then they would still be exhausted at the beginning of the school day.

It was great to hear that thanks to our donors, we were able to help Luke have some quiet and peaceful time at home, just like he can get at school with the help of amazing people like Amy.

They also were often anxious or traumatized, having witnessed a lot of violence in their young lives. Amy mentioned that this often resulted in kids not having the skills to be patient with themselves and others, and so bringing them into the resource center to relax, cool off, or have some time alone with Amy was the foundation of a loving environment — and one that Luke obviously felt very comfortable in.

Luke as our tour guide

Once Luke successfully finished his puzzles, Amy asked him if he would like to take us on a tour of the school before he returned to class, and he excitedly said he would. He showed us the lunchroom, library, hallways, and classrooms through the school building; Amy explained to us as we walked that 100% of the students at Foundation Prep received free lunches, which helps a lot with providing basic resources for the kids. Additionally, she said that without help from our sponsors, many of the children in the school would only have one school uniform for a whole year and no jacket or long pants to wear during the winter.

As our tour ended, we said goodbye to Luke, and he headed back to his classroom. Amy escorted us back to the front office. As we thanked Amy for the wonderful visit, she paused and said that she wanted us to know that Luke and his brothers and sisters had had no beds or linens in their home at all, and Children Incorporated provided funds to help them get those items so they could all hopefully get a better night’s sleep. It was great to hear that thanks to our donors, we were able to help Luke have some quiet and peaceful time at home, just like he can get at school with the help of amazing people like Amy.

*Name changed to protect the child.

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How do I sponsor a child with Children Incorporated?

SPONSOR A CHILD