Anyone ever sponsor a child?

[baloneysmom]

Hello Friends,

My boyfriend and I have decided to sponsor a child. I was curious if anyone does this? And if they do was it worth is? Did you feel you made a difference? What program did you use? What did you get out of it? Do you actually write your child and send gifts? Also, did you research it enough to know if you wanted a girl or boy or find out a country that was more hard up then another? Or did you randomly choose?

And any other information you can provide. Thanks!

 

[natalie_ca]

I tried it once, and sorry to say I'll never try it again!

Firstly, do some research! Less than 10% of the money you donate even makes it out to the sponsored child! All the rest goes to administration costs, salaries and huge fat bonuses!

Second. It was in the 1980's when I called a toll free number to what I thought was Toronto, ON (which it was). I signed up and back then I didn't have a credit card so I was sending money orders. I was eagerly waiting to get my child sponsor package so I could read about the child that I was sponsoring.

Well, colour me gullible because when the package arrived it was a photocopy of not only a picture, but also of a letter. There wasn't an original piece of paper in the envelope!

Also, I got a call from their office, which apparently was in the USA (maybe California), telling me that I owed them money: That the amount I sent (after exchange) was not sufficient to what I promised to send. It seems that while I dialed a Canadian toll free number, that the money was being funneled to the USA and they wanted the money in US Dollars. So while I was sending my money orders in Canadian Dollars to a Canadian address, the money was being sent to the USA, which after exchange, meant that the money they received from me was less than the amount I had sent.

I told them that I signed up for a certain amount and that is the amount I was going to continue to send! You know they had the nerve to tell me that I signed a contract and that they could sue me for breaching it?!!!

I would love to help a needy child, but I'll do it in my own back yard (town/country), where I know the money is actually going to be used for it's intended purpose. There are plenty of needy/neglected children all around us if we just open our eyes and look next door.

 

[baloneysmom]

Who did you sponsor with? I have been researching this for about two weeks now and my final decision is to use World Vision. They seem to be the only program that has every single aspect of their financials online in great detail which my boyfriend (ya right… like I have patience to go through that) went through. They also get audited every year with a reputable audit company so they can’t be too shady. Apparently 80% goes to the children and while the top 5 guys get a large salary (120K) I think my man said its only 6% of revenue (6% is for all administrative jobs).

I also put other requests on other boards and I’ve actually had 3 people that went and met their child… how cool is that! I checked out the World Vision site and this is true, they will help you meet your child so you can see how you have helped. Also, every summer they have events where you go to these countries and teach the children, build houses, build water structures, etc.

I did hear a downside of harassment though. Apparently once you donate they call you ALL the time asking for you to donate more to buy presents and stuff. I have no problem hanging up on someone if they are persistent after I say no lol so don’t see that as a problem.

My boyfriend and I also do lots of things for the needy kids in our area. Along with the basics of collecting food and clothing for children we also sponsor a few kids a year to go to a hockey thing where they can meet real NHL players as well as sponsorship for a circus trip.

I love to read and am always read real stories of the world. Sometimes if my boyfriend and I don’t know too much about a subject we will rent movies and documentaries… lately it’s been the child soldiers in the Sudan. This is how we came about wanting to sponsor a child.

 

[killerapple]

How great of you!

I sponsored a child when I was in school - it was a class project as part of our religion class. We did the research and tried to find a place that gave the highest % of the donation to the actual child. I want to say it was something close to 80%. This was many many years ago so I can't remember too much about it (let alone the group we went through).

 

[c1atsite]

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

You know they had the nerve to tell me that I signed a contract and that they could sue me for breaching it?!!!

That's very dastardly. I hope that biz folded. You make an interesting point about one's own backyard. My dad was a sponsor via CCF. i believe at first he was going to request a child from the Philipines but I think my mom convinced him to select the box that said "greatest need" so they assigned him a boy from Brazil. They received hand-written letters from him. I wonder about that kid- I hope he's prosperous and happy! (He'd be 35-38 by now)

 

[baloneysmom]

Originally Posted by c1atsite

I believe at first he was going to request a child from the Philipines but I think my mom convinced him to select the box that said "greatest need" so they assigned him a boy from Brazil. They received hand-written letters from him. I wonder about that kid- I hope he's prosperous and happy! (He'd be 35-38 by now)

This is exactly what I want. I want to select a child that need the most help. I have been researching (shhhh donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t tell my boss lol) all the countries stats but it really has nothing to do with the program I am using. For all I know the country the needs help the most is the country that has the most sponsors... therefore some other country is not getting any sponsors so those children donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t get as much aid... if that makes sense.

I have a girl all picked out from El Salvador, she is a super cute 6 year old but El Salvador has 63 kids that need help, there are some places that have 200+. I wish they would just say the stats on which country needs what, which needs the most help, which has the least sponsors.

Thanks for all of your responses guys!

 

[clixpix]

Years ago I remember my grandparents sponsored a child. I remember my grandmother saying that my grandfather told her to pick the homeliest child since nobody else would pick that one.

My grandparents were awesome

 

[natalie_ca]

Originally Posted by c1atsite

That's very dastardly. I hope that biz folded.

I wish I could remember the name! They are still around but they changed their name. I think I've seen commercials on TV for them, usually I fast forward. The next time I'll try and remember to look.

 

[clairebear]

My ex bf's grandparents did that. They would get updates, letters and pictures from the child that they sponsored. I dont remember what company it was through though. You do have to be very careful who you go through, there are a lot of scams out there.

 

[sharky]

Mom did it before I was born... she did till I was a young one.. the young lady married at like age 12 and thus did not need sponsoring any further