Here are just a few of the ways our donors are making a huge impact around the world.
2009-2010:
Health
Disaster Response
Education
Microlending
Livelihoods
Water (Kenya)
World Concern recently received a check for $1,313 to build a house for a family in Haiti left homeless after the earthquake. What makes this donation extraordinary is that the kids who sent it come from poverty themselves.
The children, who were part of a Richmond, VA, Vacation Bible School, decided to sell cookies and lemonade to help a family in Haiti. They set up two stands, and the community came out in droves to support them.
Ever since she was a young woman, Dianne DeLatour has had a heart for the people of Haiti and their suffering from poverty. When the earthquake struck the island nation last January, Dianne knew she had to help.
A small group of students from North Seattle made a big donation to World Concern in June. Touched by the news of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, eighth graders from Fairview Middle School held raffles, bake sales and sold Italian sodas, raising $1,210 to help earthquake victims recover. Each year, graduating eighth graders from Fairview Middle School give a gift to the school. This year the class of eight wanted the money they had raised for Haiti to be the gift they would be remembered by, so they presented the check to World Concern at their graduation ceremony.
This is the second donation to World Concern’s Disaster Lifeline from Fairview Middle School since they heard about the earthquake back in January. On the 100th day of school, students were encouraged to bring 100 coins for Haiti. They raised $600 that day. Way to go kids!
Shortly after the Haiti earthquake, 6-year-old Jonathon Kane was captivated by television news coverage of the disaster. He felt compassion for the children in Haiti, telling his mom, “Their eyes look very sad.” He wanted to do something and asked his mom Susan how he could help. She said money would be the best thing, so Jonathon emptied his piggy bank of all $6.37.
“We couldn’t get there on a plane to help, but what we could do is donate money,” Susan said. And that’s exactly what they did. But along with Jonathon were hundreds of other children at Cedar Wood Elementary in Mill Creek, Washington, who also decided to reach out to help children in Haiti.
Many children donated their birthday money, their piggy banks, their life savings – with no regard. On the first day, they raised $700. In total, they raised $3,641!
In 2007, Carrie Gendron had the opportunity to go to Poipet, Cambodia and see first-hand the effects of poverty and how it leads to human trafficking.
“Coming back to the U.S., it was clear I had to continue to do what I could to help restore souls to Christ who have been hurt in this way. Even if I could help one person, it would be worth it,” she said. “Clarity of my purpose was bestowed on me after this trip. Fighting human trafficking would be a cause I would support in many ways.”
Through her business, Heaps of Handbags, Carrie collects gently used handbags, cleans them up, restores them and then sells them, donating approximately 50 percent of her profits to help combat human trafficking. World Concern partners with Cambodian Hope Organization to protect children from the heinous crime of trafficking by providing them with education, work opportunities and stability, so her donations to World Concern align perfectly with her mission.
World Concern applauds donors like Carrie who use their God-given talents and strengths to make a lasting difference in the lives of the world’s poorest people. Thank you Carrie!
World Concern received a $2,000 donation from two high school students in San Jose, Calif. Dustin Nguyen and Tam Nguyen, both students at Leland High School, worked more than 270 hours each planning every detail of a fashion show, which was held at the school on April 30, 2010.
Dustin said he chose World Concern as their organization to support after weeks of researching charities online. He was impressed with the work World Concern does around the world and saw it as a worthy cause to support.
Working toward a goal for a good cause was a valuable learning experience, Dustin said. “We know that World Concern does so much more that goes under the radar. It takes so much to produce a 45-minute show; we empathize with how much time your team spends to save thousands of lives,” he said.
