A unique way to sponsor a child
Food For The Poor is one of the best charities you can choose for child sponsorship. Through our Angels Of Hope child sponsorship program, children living in established group homes with loving caretakers throughout the Caribbean and Latin America are given the critical resources every child needs. In the homes, we can nurture the children and monitor their progress.
What is Angels Of Hope?
For 20 years, the Angels Of Hope program has provided important resources to homes for abandoned, orphaned and neglected children. These group homes maintain loving and nurturing environments for children with a background of extreme poverty, some of whom face trauma stemming from adverse experiences such as parental abuse and fending for themselves on the streets.
Child sponsorship became a new focus at Food For The Poor in 2003 when project managers recognized the severe need in many orphanages in Latin America. Angels Of Hope was developed to enhance the lives of these children by helping to supply the food, education, medicine and other items children need to grow and thrive.
Leeann Chong, director of the Angels Of Hope program, spoke to us recently about what makes this Food For The Poor program unique.
Q. What sets Food For The Poor apart from other child sponsorship programs?
A: Our current model supports children who live in a group home environment where we can keep track of the sponsored children. In many cases, these children have been abandoned, abused, neglected and suffered much trauma. The homes that we support have loving guardians and caretakers to ensure the children receive the guidance, love and education all children need. It is only because of our sponsors that we can provide the homes with much-needed basic items (food, personal care items, etc.), special events for birthdays and Christmas, small home repairs, and so much more. Because the children live in a home Food For The Poor monitors, it means we can keep track of the children as they age. Children/young adults can stay in the program until they are 21 years old. Some of our children in Angels Of Hope-supported homes have aged out of the program and, as adults, returned to help the homes that rescued them.
Q. Why should you become an Angel of Hope?
A: Our goal is to improve the lives of vulnerable children who come from extreme poverty and/or have been abandoned or removed from their families due to an at-risk situation. When you sponsor a child through Angels Of Hope, you are giving your child the opportunity to heal, thrive and grow in a loving, stable group home environment.
Q. What does my sponsorship cover through Angels Of Hope?
A: Your sponsorship means you will connect with your child through correspondence twice a year. You will also receive an updated photo once a year. Your financial support allows for the home raising your sponsored child to have food, personal care items, special events such as Christmas and birthdays, and much more. Because of our sponsors, the children have the opportunity to heal, thrive and grow in a loving, stable group home environment.
Q. What countries participate now in the Angels Of Hope program?
A: Currently, six countries are active in the Angels Of Hope program. They are Jamaica, Haiti, Guyana, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Currently, there are over 6,600 children in the program, living in 128 homes.
Q. What is the average age of a child in the Angels Of Hope program?
A: The average age is 13 years old. Children range in age from infants to 21 years old. Angels Of Hope selects the child to be sponsored and you will receive a photo and biography when you join the program.
Q. What does the child receive? What are the benefits for a child?
A: Since the children live in a group home environment, our in-kind support provides the following for the benefit of the children who live in each home. This includes but is not limited to:
- Priority access to general distribution items (rice, beans, MannaPack rice meals, clothing, and all the other products Food For The Poor ships by container)
- Basic needs support package – funds sent to purchase items from local, in-country wholesalers such as food (culturally applicable – like corn flour to make tortillas), personal hygiene items, and cleaning supplies. The basic items are supplied quarterly to each home, and help to stimulate the local economy.
- Small home repairs – funds to pay for small (cosmetic) repairs such as paint, new doors, new appliances, etc.
- Birthday and Christmas celebrations – each child receives a personal gift at Christmas. We provide funds to buy these items in the country where the home resides. A Christmas meal is also funded by Angels Of Hope, as well as birthday parties.
- Caregiver Appreciation Day – the children demonstrate how grateful they are to the men and women who take care of them each day. We provide funds for a special meal and small gift for these caregivers.
- Large projects – access to priority attention for larger projects such as structural repairs, agriculture and animal husbandry projects.
Q. What is the typical reason children in need may be in an Angels Of Hope-supported home?
A: All children in the program come from extreme poverty. Some of our children live in a “boarding school” where they receive an education while living on the property. They see their families once per year. We also have homes that take in children who have been placed there because they have been removed from the families due to neglect or abuse. We also have some children who have been abandoned or are orphaned. Some of the children have suffered from extreme trauma and need plenty of love and care to overcome their troubled pasts.
Q. How much love do children need, and what do they learn about God/Jesus?
A: No matter the reason the child is living in an Angels Of Hope-supported home, all children need love and affection. For the children who were removed from their families for an at-risk situation, the homes (and governments) provide therapeutic counseling.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, Christianity is widely accepted and it is a deep part of the culture. Depending on the denomination and management style, there might be slight differences in how the Christian faith is practiced, but the majority of homes acknowledge God/Jesus and give Him thanks for all things. Prayer over meals, words of affirmation can be seen throughout the homes, and daily devotionals are a part of everyday life in Angels Of Hope-supported homes. Some children also attend a religious school.
Q. How much does it cost to sponsor a child through Angels Of Hope?
A: It costs a little more than $1 a day. For only $34 a month, you can sponsor a child. Or you may choose to sponsor two children in need a month for $68.
Please visit www.FoodForThePoor.org/help-now/angels-of-hope
You can be an angel today through child sponsorship.