Leaving a Legacy, One Child at a Time
We say sponsorship changes lives, and it truly does. Some of our sponsors have been giving a hand up to a brighter future for many years. They have seen their sponsored children grow into adults and graduate from college, then take on another sponsored child. It is now 2018, and we are seeing a lot of second and third generation sponsors.
For example, Dwight and Lori Henderson have been sponsoring since 1993. They came with the Presbyterian Church in Sudbury group to give their time and services at LCP in July 2018. Since learning about LCW/LCP, they have supported 16 children. They have seen 4 of their sponsored children through high school graduation and the remaining 8 all the way through college. They currently support 2 children through sponsorship and 2 through college sponsorship.
Through their support, not only are their graduates working, they are thriving! Places of work all over the city and beyond have been touched because they gave. One of their graduates is even working as the psychometrician at the mental health office in Dumaguete, a highly sought-after and well-respected position.
During the Meet and Greet time with PCIS, Dwight and Lori’s current and former sponsored children and graduates came to show their appreciation to their donors. Without the Henderson’s, their lives would certainly be very different.
You can create a generational change, just like Dwight and Lori. Sponsoring just one child changes their life forever, not only that, it affects their families in the future in a good way. It breaks the cycle of poverty! Even if you cannot commit to monthly sponsorship all of our HELPS programs ae in need of funding, and contribute to changing lives for the better. Consider sponsoring a child or giving a financial gift today. Thank You!
Presbyterian Church in Sudbury Massachusetts (PCIS) has been a faithful supporter of Little Children of the World since 1989. This church has been responsible for supporting the Preschool Program budget since its inception, and a member from PCIS always serves as a representative on the LCW Advisory Council. Their church has previously led 2 volunteer trips to LCP (2008 & 2015). July 13-23, 2018, a group of 19 youth, church leaders, and other members came, once again, to serve the LCP communities. They divided into four teams to focus on building comfort rooms (CR – bathroom), community health education, preschool classes, and more!
Given the church’s longstanding support of the preschool program, the group from PCIS organized wonderful activities for each of the seven preschool centers. They read books, sang songs, and did crafts with all 136 preschool students in our centers. The children loved the activities and the preschool centers greatly benefitted from the supplies given.
Sally Millar, the PCIS group leader and LCW advisory council member, along with Jane Dossett, both nurses by profession led the health team. All 14 communities received health education covering stroke, COPD, personal hygiene, and importance of healthy diet and lifestyle. In addition to community health education, the PCIS team created and fully funded 15 paramedic medical bags, completely stocked with supplies for the paramedics as well as the nurse and handclasp program. They led trainings on the equipment and taught additional paramedic health classes.
The main project for the PCIS group was to build CRs. PCIS raised funds to build a comfort room for 17 families who previously had no place to do their business other than outside, in the open. The teams were able to completely build 12 CRs using Filipino style carpentry! The additional 5 were completed by a Filipino carpenter. 17 families now have a bathroom, a commodity we all too often take for granted.
The Sudbury team worked incredibly hard to make a difference during their time at LCP, but the church as a whole spent the better part of a year fundraising and preparing, in addition to their already generous support, to make this trip a reality. The PCIS church family is responsible for 56 sponsored children and college students, 48 of whom attended a meet and greet with the team in addition to 4 college graduates who came back to give their appreciation.
