Share In Their Future

Toy Company Making a Difference for Our U.S. Children

Trying to find the right present for the kids?  We are excited to announce a new partnership with Imagine the Challenge, a mail order and online toy company!  Thanks to the facilitation of one of our sponsors, Imagine the Challenge has agreed to donate 10% of its toy profits in November and December to Children, Incorporated when customers enter the coupon code Child8 on their shopping cart page.  Imagine the Challenge is a unique toy company specializing in safe, quality skills-development toys for children of all ages.  All sale proceeds provided by Imagine the Challenge will go to the Warm Clothing Fund to help our U.S. children stay warm this winter!  Don't just buy the gift, be the gift, and purchase your toys for the holidays online today!   And remember, please don't forget to enter the coupon code Child8 on your shopping cart!

Great gifts that help our children!

Looking for that perfect client or hostess holiday gift and wish to make a difference at the same time? We've recently expanded our affiliation with Cashew Concern Certification (CCC) and will now benefit from the sale of their packaged specialty cashews!  These affordable cashews that come with a special acknowledgment card make great gifts!

And these aren't just any cashews!  The CCC is a non-profit corporation that inspects and certifies cashew processing facilities to ensure that they comply with safe manufacturing practices and fair labor standards.  For more information about CCC, click here. 

Our partnership with this worthy organization is part of an ongoing effort to vastly improve the living and working conditions of children in cashew-producing countries such as India, Brazil, Vietnam and Africa.  For every 18oz. can of cashews sold, Children, Incorporated will receive $1.   Make a difference by purchasing your specialty cashews online today!

Employees of the Greater Richmond Convention Center Volunteer for CI

Children, Incorporated wishes to extend its gratitude to the employees of the Greater Richmond Convention Center (GRCC) who volunteered their time at our Back-to-School Shopping Trip on August 26th.  Children, Incorporated values special relationships with local organizations like the GRCC, where employees give back to their community and show compassion for children in need. GRCC "wins the prize" for providing the most volunteers for our shopping trips - a total of 36 people!  THANK YOU GRCC!

 

GRCC Employee Volunteers gather for a group photo in front of Target during our August 26th back-to-school shopping trip.

CI and Nussentials: A Healthy Partnership

In January 2007, Children, Incorporated formed a very special relationship with Nussentials Corp, a company specializing in stabilized rice-bran based whole food products.

Striving to help meet the needs of children living in poverty, Nussentials donates 5% of every product sale to Children, Incorporated, helping us provide basic essentials to the U.S. children on our program.  Our partnership with Nussentials continues to grow.  Last week CI Development Director Liz Sauer was recently presented with a $22,000 check from Nussentials at their annual meeting in Dallas, Texas.  These  funds, which represent Nussential's continued commitment to children in poverty will be used to sponsor children in our U.S. divisions. "We are truly privileged to have been selected by Nussentials, under the directorship of Mr. Phil Mims, to be the recipient of their generous program to benefit children in the United States," commented Children, Incorporated President & CEO Marian Cummins.   

CI Development Director Liz Sauer (fourth from left), with Phil

Mims, President of Nussentials, and other representatives being

presented with $22,000 at the Nussentials annual meeting in Dallas

New Partnership with Cashew Concern Certification

Children, Incorporated has affiliated with Cashew Concern Certification (CCC), a nonprofit organization that promotes ethical processing, and distribution of cashew nuts.

Cashews are produced in four primary geographic areas: Brazil, India, Vietnam, and central Africa. 

Because CCC and Children, Incorporated operate in many of the same regions of the world, our partnership is a natural fit. CCC is currently a financial contributor to Children, Incorporated, and in the coming months, we plan to work with CCC staff to develop and implement programs that will vastly improve conditions for children working in the cashew industry.  Check back regularly for more information!

GoodSearch Makes Good Cents for CI!

You can quickly and easily raise money for Children, Incorporated by searching the internet with GoodSearch.com. 

Simply visit the GoodSearch website, designate CI as your charity of choice, and use the service as you would use any other search engine.  For each search you perform, CI will receive one cent. 

These pennies add up: in just a few weeks and with just a few users, we have raised $60.  If our supporters start using GoodSearch on a regular basis--and encourage all their friends to do the same--the financial benefit to our children could be substantial.  Spread the word, and help us reach $1000 by the end of 2008!

Progress and Planning in Augusta, Georgia

Augusta, Georgia is famous for hosting the Masters Tournament each spring.  Known as "the Garden City," Augusta boasts lush parks, historic buildings, and thriving recreational centers. 

But alongside this wealth are significant economic and social problems.  As of 2007, more than 27% of Augusta's children lived in poverty.  29% of the adults in Augusta have not completed high school.  The city's rate of AIDS cases is the second highest in the state, and 78% of these infections occur among African Americans.  The Augusta Chronicle reported in February of this year that gang violence is a constant threat in many of the city's neighborhoods. 

These and other factors make life extremely challenging for the children who live in the troubled areas of the city--but Children, Incorporated aims to assist these children by ensuring that their basic needs are met on a daily basis.  We opened our first Augusta project in August of 2007, and in the past ten months we have added two more.  Our Augusta outreach is made possible by a partnership with Communities in Schools (CIS).  At each of our three Augusta projects, a CIS employee volunteers to administer our program. 

Today, we have sixty Augusta children on our rolls, and thirty-five of these children are sponsored.  We hope to expand our reach into all of Augusta's low-income areas.  To facilitate this expansion, Ron Carter, Director of the Inner City Division, recently traveled to Augusta to meet with CIS staff.  Their discussions focused on the state of the city's low-income neighborhoods, the issues that affect Augusta's impoverished children, and the ways that CIS and Children, Incorporated can best work together to achieve their common goals.  We anticipate a marked increase in our presence in Augusta during the next several years.

To sponsor an Augusta child, please call (800) 538-5381 or visit our website at www.childrenincorporated.org. 

Ron Carter (right) is the director of our Inner City Division.  During his trip to Augusta, he met with Charles Bush (left) and Mary Crawford (center), among other employees of CIS-Augusta.  Mr. Bush is a program assistant, and Ms. Crawford is the organization's executive director. 

ODU Students Volunteer at Project in the Dominican Republic

This past March, students and staff from Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, Virginia spent a week volunteering at the National School for the Blind in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  There they worked with many students sponsored by Children, Incorporated.  Special thanks go to the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in  St. Augustine, which sent a representative to Norfolk to help the ODU students understand how to work with blind children. 

International Education Programs of Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida facilitated the ODU trip. This year, IEP also sent students on spring break trips to Guayaquil, Ecuador to work at projects where CI supports children.  In the summer, IEP sends student volunteers to CI-affiliated projects in the Philippines. 

You don’t have to be a college student to volunteer.  IEP welcomes participants of all ages.  Please visit IEP's website for more information.

The ODU students shared with us many photos of their work and of the wonderful children of the Dominican Republic:

 

Read Across America Day

On Monday, March 3, many of our United States schools celebrated Read Across America Day, an annual event commemorating the life and works of Dr. Seuss.  At one Appalachian elementary school, teenage volunteers dressed as Dr. Seuss characters read classics like The Cat in the Hat to students enrolled in kindergarten and Head Start.  Older children took turns reading to one another.  Through a partnership with The Pajama Program, we provided the children with new pajamas and copies of Dr. Seuss books. 

A volunteer from the local high school reads to children in the Head Start program:

Some of the volunteers in costume:

In the older grades, the children took turns reading to one another:

Children, Incorporated Pajama Party

In 2006, we hosted a pajama party for children at Swansboro Elementary School in Richmond, Virginia. At the party, the children received sleepwear, books, and stuffed animals. Children, Incorporated partnered with the Pajama Program to donate these items, which the Pajama Program originally obtained from the Oprah Winfrey Show.