Is
your question not answered below? Feel free to contact us at:
fhimail@timara.org.
·
How does my monthly pledge benefit my sponsored
child?
· How can I be assured that my financial
gifts are being put to good use?
· What is expected of me as a sponsor?
· What do I receive as a sponsor?
· Can I send presents to my sponsored
child?
· Can multiple sponsors choose the
same child?
· What is unique about Food for the Hungry's
sponsorship program?
· Are there other ways I can become
more involved with Food for the Hungry?
· Good things to know about Food for the
Hungry
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How does my
monthly pledge benefit my sponsored child?
Your
pledged gift helps meet the critical unmet needs of the child
you sponsor and other children in their community.
The
best way to help a child for the long term is to strengthen
the family and the community in which they live. Therefore,
our sponsorship strategy at Food for the Hungry is to empower
and equip the families, local church, and the leadership in
a community to meet the needs of their children.
We use your sponsorship funding to impact all of the needy children
in a community - including those who do not have sponsors because
we want no deserving child to be left out.
·
The most important resource sponsorship brings to the community
and children is not equipment or material goods but a Food
for the Hungry staff person who works in the community and
brings ideas, skills, faith, and love. Part of your monthly
pledge goes to support this worker.
·
Part of your funding goes to materials and supplies for projects,
training, and activities. We focus on solutions not short-term
cures. You could give someone $3 for the medicine to cure
a waterborne illness, or you could pool the money to provide
clean water and make the medicine unnecessary in the first
place. We believe the latter is the most prudent use of your
sponsorship gifts.
·
We focus on the areas below and develop specific plans in
each community and carry out activities based on the needs
of the children and the local situation.
Spiritual:
Sponsorship staff work with the local church or local Christians
to help every child know God and have the opportunity to
hear and believe in Jesus and his redemptive work. Sponsorship
works to provide every child the opportunity to understand
God's good plan for all areas of life as revealed in his
Word.
Education:
The sponsorship program helps the family and local leadership
identify and address the problems that prevent or hinder
their children from getting a good education and developing
their minds and skills as God intends.
Health:
Sponsorship staff work with the community to identify and
address chronic health problems or provide emergency health
care for sick children.
Emotional:
Sponsorship staff help the family and others provide the
children with the love and support they need and that God
desires for them.
·
As a sponsor, you will receive periodic reports describing
activities and how these needs are specifically being addressed
in your child's community.
We
are successful when the family, church, and leaders are meeting
the needs of their children as God intends and the children
are thriving.
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How
can I be assured that my financial gifts are being put to good
use?
Upon
receipt, your financial gift is immediately tagged to go to
the Child Development Program in the specific country and area
where your child lives. We make sure your gift gets to this
program. In addition, we meet the standards of several watchdog
groups, including the National Charities Information Bureau,
the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, the Association
of Evangelical Relief and Development Organizations, and others.
We would welcome the opportunity to send you a copy of our most
recent annual report.
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What
is expected of me as a sponsor?
Pray.
The most important thing you can do for your sponsored
child is pray. Put the child’s photo in a place where
you will see it often, on the refrigerator or your desk at work.
If you have children of your own, encourage them to pray and
use this program as a way to learn about the world and about
how they can make a difference.
Send
your gifts consistently. The Food for the Hungry
Child Development Programs are dependent on your gifts. Please
help our field staff manage efficient, reliable programs knowing
they can depend on your financial support. If you find it necessary
to end your sponsorship pledge for any reason, please phone
Child Sponsor Services at 1-866-307-3259 as soon as possible
so we may begin the search for another sponsor.
The
most efficient way is to have your gift automatically deducted
from your bank account, making it more convenient for you and
more consistent for the program. Just mail in the form provided
in this folder along with a canceled check. If you have any
questions, call us at 1-866-307-3259 and ask for the Donor Services
department.
Write.
Everyone likes to get personal mail - especially a child. The
child you sponsor will be encouraged and gladdened any time
you write - even if it is just a simple card once a year. They
will post it on their wall or save it in a safe place.
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What
do I receive as a sponsor?
You
will receive:
· Twice a year updates
on what is being done to impact your child in their community.
· Reply letters
from the child when you write him or her.
· An updated photo and personal
report on the child once a year.
· Receipts for
all your child sponsorship support
· Most of all, you'll have the satisfaction
that you're impacting a community and making a difference in
the life of your child and other children in that community.
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Can
I send gifts or presents to my sponsored child?
Due
to feedback from our field staff, a policy was established that
we cannot accept cash gifts or material gifts from sponsors
to deliver to sponsored children. This is for the benefit of
all the children and families we serve. When only certain children
receive gifts, the other children feel unloved and excluded.
In addition, some gifts can be culturally inappropriate and,
therefore, misunderstood.
We have found from experience that writing letters and sending
photos to your sponsored child and family work best. Along with
your letter, you may include small flat items, such as bookmarks
and stickers.
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Can
multiple sponsors choose the same child?
There
is only one profile representing each child waiting to be sponsored.
When you select a child or assigned a child, no one else is
able to sponsor that same child. However, this does not mean
that a Sunday School class or office group cannot sponsor a
child together. It means that a child is not double-sponsored.
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What
is unique about Food for the Hungry's sponsorship program?
1.
Community-based Strategy
The
focus is on the critical unmet needs of children, but the approach
is one of strengthening the family, church, and leaders to better
meet these needs. Child sponsorship funds the program in a community,
but unsponsored children are also served.
2. Worldview Transformation
Transforming
poverty starts in the heart and mind. Worldview matters. The
truth sets free. We believe this and, therefore, emphasize having
committed Christian staff who can help children and families
understand God's truth as it relates to all aspects of their
lives.
3.
Local Church Emphasis
Food
for the Hungry sponsorship encourages and supports the local
church to minister effectively to children and families in the
community. However, the sponsorship program is not based in
the church, making it possible to operate in communities where
the church is small, weak, or not even present at the beginning.
4.
Effective in Various Situations
Because
the child development strategy is not imposed but rather developed
in the community, the program can be effective in a large urban
slum as well as a small close-knit rural community. For example,
in one part of a country, the pressing need and focus alongside
Biblical worldview transformation may be on nutritional needs
and improving the quality of education. In another area the
main issue and focus may be on HIV/AIDS prevention among youth
as well as care for orphaned children. In another, it might
be on helping establish a school and improve basic health care
to children.
5.
Working in Hard Places
Because
of the demands of sponsorship administration and communications,
many sponsorship agencies prefer to work near major cities where
communications are easier. Since its founding, Food for the
Hungry has been committed to going to the hard places. This
includes our sponsorship program, as well, even though it makes
communications very challenging and puts high demands on staff.
6.
Making a Difference
Field
evaluations show that very positive change is taking place in
our sponsorship communities.
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Are there
other ways I can become more involved with Food for the Hungry?
He
has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require
of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with
your God? - Micah 6:8 NKJV
Either overseas or right from your own hometown, there are many
ways you can partner with Food for the Hungry in carrying out
God’s mission of doing, loving and walking:
Volunteer Ministry:
Become an advocate for the poor by representing Food for the
Hungry at your home church, civic organizations and trade associations.
Click
here for more info.
Team
Ministry:
Travel on a short-term mission overseas to build a community
center, school or teach essential life-skills while sharing
the Gospel. Click
here for more info.
Host
a concert:
Help
broaden child-sponsorship efforts by hosting popular Christian
recording artists to perform at your church. Click
here for more info.
Hunger
Corps:
Join our longer-term missionaries for up to three years, living
alongside community members to help them become self-sustaining.
Click
here for more info.
Pledge
a gift to another Food for the Hungry project:
Make a donation to help fund an overseas project or program.
Click
here for more info.
Prayer
Network:
Become a member of our active, e-mail network, receiving regular
updates on how to pray for those who are hurting. Click
here for more info.
Adopt-a-Community:
Involve your church in helping a specific overseas community,
helping them improve their standard of living. Click
here for more info.
Visit
our Web site at www.fh.org for additional details or call
1-800-2HUNGERS and speak to a representative.
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Good
things to know about Food for the Hungry
Food for the Hungry, Inc was founded in 1971 and helps some
of the world’s most disadvantaged people in more than
46 countries through child development programs, agriculture
and clean-water projects, health and nutrition programs, education,
micro-enterprise loans and emergency relief. The international
partnership of Food for the Hungry is now 2,000 staff strong.
Food
for the Hungry seeks to walk with churches, leaders and families
in overcoming all forms of human poverty, living in healthy
relationship with God and His creations.
We
achieve our mission of serving Christ through our Vision of
a Community.
- Helping churches reach out to
the community
- Guiding leaders to identify
and solve specific problems within the community
- Encouraging family members to
help meet each other’s needs
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