The "Income Generating Projects" (IGP's) allow the parents/caretakers to increase the income in their household, and give those parents/caretakers a sense of pride that they CAN provide for their family. We have funded several IGP's in the past few months, and we are all anxious to see how it improves the lives of the families. Check back regularly to see the pictures and thank you notes, as well as the progress from the families.
Project #15 is for Maria, Ullysette and their family.


Project #14 is for Jonathan and his grandmother. This is an income-generating project, so that his grandmother can provide them with the necessities to live. Currently, his grandmother does not work. The job that she used to do, she can no longer do because of her health condition. This will provide her with a business selling bed sheets and bed spreads. What a great benefit it will be to the family!!! The amount needed to make this dream a reality is $541. Only $230 left to raise! Here is the link: http://www.firstgiving.com/igp4jonathan
You can find more thorough information about the projects and the children on this blog: http://www.childrenaretheworld.blogspot.com/
Now, if you would like to help make a difference in the life of a family, click on the tab that says "How You Can Help". There you will find our current projects. You will make your donation on a fundraising page set up just for that child and their family on FirstGiving.com. Your donation IS tax deductible and goes to Children International (a non-profit organization). If you would like more information about Children International, you will find their web-site here: http://www.children.org/ Thank you in advance for caring out our children and their families!!!
If you are a Children International sponsor and would like to do a project for your child/child's family, we welcome you!!! Any Children International sponsors may participate in a fundraiser for their child. We ask that if you want to do a project, you use the "pay it forward" system as explained below:
Dear fellow sponsors,
Thanks to your overwhelming support, our fundraising projects have been a huge success! However, there is some concern that, as our campaigns continue, the people benefiting from these fundraisers will not be same people who have been contributing to others with the greatest generosity.
Our FirstGiving fundraising campaigns are based on the concept of 'Pay It Forward', following a model developed by an experimental group of four sponsors. Over the past year, these four developed a money-sharing system that would allow their sponsored children to receive Special Needs gifts more rapidly: instead of each sponsor saving up her money for four months, then each funding her own project, the sponsors contributed the money they would have saved to another child - with the knowledge that the same would be done for her when her child's turn for a donation came around. The beauty of the idea was that three out of the four children involved in the project would receive their donations sooner than they would have otherwise.
FirstGiving uses the same concept, only executed on a grander scale. With more people involved, a little goes a long way, and smaller contributions on the part of many can accomplish great things. The hope is that donors will feel good about helping other needy children, having the underlying belief that their own child's project will eventually be funded in the same manner. Unlike the arrangement between the above-mentioned four sponsors, there is no guarantee that each contributor will receive back precisely the same amount that he/she has invested in the previous projects - which is fine, as long as everyone is aware that the system could break down if it starts relying too heavily on a small core group of donators who may easily become frustrated if they feel they are doing all of the 'work'.
To ensure that things remain fair and somewhat even, I am considering the possibility of implementing a new regulation for projects #11 - 20. In order to have one of your children granted a slot in the next round of 10 fundraisers, you must have contributed at least 25% of your 'asking' amount to previous projects. For instance, if your sponsored child has requested $200 to buy an X-Box … oops, I mean to buy food and school supplies … then in order to start a fundraiser for him/her, you must have already donated a total of $50 to projects #1-10. This rule is particularly important as the maximum amount for future projects is being increased to $500. I would like to have seen a sponsor contribute at least $125 to other projects before requesting this much for his/her own child!
To submit a request for a fundraiser, please use the "contact us" button. Include your full name, your child's id, and what you would like the fundraiser to be for.
The fundraisers that are currently in need of donations can be found on the page titled "How You Can Help".