Share In Their Future

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 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.

VCU Toy Donation Update: A Christmas Surprise for One Richmond Family

Children, Incorporated recently received more than 150 new toys from employees of the VCU Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.  CI staff delivered the toys to schools in  the  Richmond area on Monday morning. 

On Tuesday, Ron Carter, Director of the Inner City Division, returned to one of the schools to meet with Carol, the school’s CI project volunteer. During their meeting, a call came in from a single mother of two who was desperate to find toys for her children for Christmas. This woman lost her job in early December, and she has been struggling to pay her bills. She now has a new job, but she will not start receiving paychecks in time to purchase Christmas gifts for her children. Ron could hear the woman crying as she spoke to Carol. 

Carol asked the woman what types of toys her children wanted. The woman replied that her son likes Spiderman and dinosaurs, and her daughter loves baby dolls and My Little Pony items.  Carol explained to the woman that almost all of the CI toys had already been distributed and that she might not be able to give the children exactly what they wished for. 

Yet when Carol went to the box containing the few remaining toys, she was astonished to find a Spiderman football, a dinosaur play set, a My Little Pony blanket, and a beautiful soft baby doll!  Carol and Ron were both amazed!   Just the right items remained! 

 Ron delivered the toys to the woman’s workplace that afternoon, and the children will receive them on Christmas morning. Thanks to the generosity of our friends at VCU, some very precious children will have a wonderful holiday.

 

Recognition from the Richmond Public Schools

The Richmond, Virginia Public School System has recognized Children, Incorporated as a vital community partner.  Since forming the Inner City Division in 2005, our organization has provided more than $100,000 in funds, goods, and services to impoverished children in Richmond.  Click here for more information on our partnership with the Richmond schools. 

Toy Donation for our Richmond Programs

The Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation chose Children, Incorporated as the beneficiary of its annual holiday gala, which took place at the Science Museum of Virginia on Saturday, December 15.  Each of the gala's 150 guests donated a new toy to CI.  On Monday morning, CI staff delivered the toys to children at Swansboro Elementary and Summer Hill Elementary.  A third portion of toys will go to Blackwell Elementary later this week.  All three schools are located in Richmond's southside district.  CI extends a very heartfelt thank you to our benefactors at VCU!  You have truly brightened our children's holidays.

Above: Some of the VCU staff who contributed toys to our children.  Dr. David Cifu, second from left, is chair of the department.  He helped to coordinate the event. 

Above: more than 150 toys for Richmond children!

 
Left: Ron Carter, Director of the Inner City Division, delivers toys to Swansboro Elementary.  Right: Liz Sauer, Director of Marketing and Development, delivers toys to Summer Hill Elementary.

Children, Incorporated in New Orleans!

Terrific news! Children, Incorporated will launch new programs in New Orleans before the end of the year. Through a partnership with Communities in Schools, we will provide at-risk children in New Orleans with school supplies, clothing, and other necessities. 

 Watch our blog and website for updates on these projects. We will have New Orleans children available for sponsorship by mid-December. Meanwhile, you can get involved by donating to our Haven Fund, which provides immediate support to children who are waiting to be sponsored.