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| from www.childfund.org |
This week marks the halfway point in my year of giving! I am a bit behind, but alas that is life and I will catch up one way or another.
Child Fund has a long history is my family. Originally Christian Children's Fund, my Grandmother sponsored her first child approximately 50 years ago. She kept in touch with many of her sponsored children for decades and continued the tradition of giving, encouraging my mother to give. My mother sponsored her first child when she was a freshman in college in 1969 and has been giving ever since. She then encouraged the tradition by asking my brother to forgo a gift to her and instead sponsor a child.
Founded by a Presbyterian minister in 1938, Child Fund is not an evangelical mission. The mission is to change the lives of deprived, excluded and vulnerable children. That mission does not include forcing religion in exchange for help, which is a philosophy I disagree with. They stopped all evangelical work over 30 years ago. This was a smart move which may have been a strategy to remove them from the negative image associated with "McChurch" leaders of the likes of Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer, who hold services designed to extract money from vulnerable populations in order to fund their own extravagant lifestyles. Child Fund International has transparent accountability and reports that 83% of every dollar goes directly to helping children in need.
Child Fund has a unique and well recognized approach of one-to-one connection with children. By tying an individual directly with a child, the giving becomes much more personal. Donors are sent pictures and letters from the child encouraging a relationship that can last for years and years. My mother has watched the progress of her sponsored children over the years and watched them thrive into young adults who are getting the education and support they need to benefit the next generation.
Children come from 31 countries (including the US) and 13.5 million children are helped each year. By providing help to individual families, local organizations, and global communities, children are given a broad range of support from education and health care to job training and emergency aid.
For more information on Child Fund International, click here.
My donation will be matched 100% by my company.
