Sponsor a Child?

[MJK]

Hello,

My wife and I are interested in sponsoring a child but we want to be careful what organization to do it through.

We do not want a Christian or any other religious charity/organization and we also want to be careful and ensure that most of the money we donate actually goes to the child and not in the pockets of the organization.

Does anyone know what a good (non for profit?) organization is that we can use?

Thanks, feedback is welcome.

[flylock shox]

My kid needs some new sneakers.

If you sent me 50 bucks, that would really help.

100 would be twice as good actually.

[Lights Out]

I sponsor a child through Plan Canada (Their "Because I Am a Girl" campaign). They are non for profit, have no religious or political affiliation, and have a 80:20 rule of allocation. They also give you good updates (I think twice a year) on what is going on with your sponsor child and its effects on the community.

The only downside is that they do call once in while and ask you to sponsor another child, but they are never overly pushy.

http://plancanada.ca/

[MJK]

Thank you for your help. We have just started the process and have sponsored a 6 year old boy named Suleimane from Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.

We put in 'no preference' in all the categories and look forward to seeing photo's of him and his community.

Thanks for the help Lights Out!

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by flylock shox

My kid needs some new sneakers.

If you sent me 50 bucks, that would really help.

100 would be twice as good actually.

Originally Posted by MJK

Thank you for your help. We have just started the process and have sponsored a 6 year old boy named Suleimane from Guinea-Bissau, West Africa.

We put in 'no preference' in all the categories and look forward to seeing photo's of him and his community.

Thanks for the help Lights Out!

Lol. Those are some pretty snazzy sneakers he's wearing.

[Lights Out]

You're welcome MJK! I am glad to help!

[Devils'Advocate]

Congratulations. It's a wonderful thing to do. I've been with Plan Canada for 10 years. Been a foster parent to several children during that time (some grew up, moved away from the project area). It seems different with each child. One used to draw pictures for me of the improvements in the village. My current foster children don't communicate at all, but I get annual updates on the progress they are making.

I've noticed Plan Canada has shifted its focus. Rather than emphasizing that you are helping one child, you are helping the whole community. Some of your money goes to clothing, school supplies, etc for the child you are sponsoring, but much of it goes to infrastructure (wells, schools, medical facilities, etc). Which is why I think they changed their name from "Foster Parents Plan of Canada" to "Plan Canada". Either way, I think it's a wonderful program and from what I have seen the results in the community have been transformational.