News
Stories About Children and Their Families in the We’ve Got Your Back Program
Read the stories of the children and their families who are involved in the program, and see how your contribution has made the difference in people’s lives.
Jason
Erin
Carly
A Teacher Weighs In
“A family of three siblings at our school site, Project Hope, were all given backpacks last week to take home and share with the family. Today, the middle child told me, “Ms Priscila, my mom says Thank You very much for the food!” I thought it was great to hear gratitude.
All four teachers at our school mentioned how great this program is and how excited the students were to be in this Weekend Nutrition Club. I had many children already asking me about their backpacks, I told them they would get to take it home today… they were very excited!”
Contact Elizabeth Saldaña by e-mail or at 714-523-4454 ext 30 to see how you can host a food drive for any of the schools involved in the We’ve Got Your Back program.
The Power of Spirit
Acaciawood High School students immediately jumped on board with the We’ve Got Your Back Toy Drive, and helped by distributing fliers to their peers, classmates, and teachers. Students also volunteered their time to wrap gifts for homeless children in the program. They used their creative skills to bring a special touch to every gift they wrapped and every card they made. They were also the first to arrive and the last to leave; volunteering to clean up after all gifts were wrapped.
On top of all that, they were able to donate over 50 toys to this year’s toy drive!
Volunteer Coordinator, Melissa Strauss, says, “As a coordinator of volunteers, it warms my heart to see young people aware of the needs of others. Not only the needs of the community, but noticing our own organization’s needs….like cleaning up before you leave. I am so impressed by the Acaciawood students. They are a delightful group to work with. I hope we become great friends and see them at many more functions.”
Acaciawood students have participated in our Saturday serve days and are always lending a helping hand with a smile.
Thank you, Acaciawood students!
Now that’s the Power of YOU!
The Power of Service
Fueled by President Barack Obama’s call to service, more than 12,100 service projects took place across the country, including Giving Children Hope’s medical sorting project. Giving Children Hope partnered with the Volunteer Center of Orange County for the largest nationwide volunteer day of the year, Martin Luther King, Jr Serve Day.
Groups in attendance included Americorp Vista, Orange County Church of Christ, National Honor Society students from Cerra Villa Middle school, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
The serve day consisted of 49 volunteer completing 3 hours volunteer shifts of sorting and packing medical supplies for disaster relief and foreign aid.
All ages participated, from age 4 to age 80.
A special thanks to Jeremy Cohen for facilitating the event. Jeremy is a 3rd grade teacher in the Buena Park school district. His desire to help his students feel good about themselves and to learn to think for themselves is inspiring. He provided an activity for staff and volunteers to do before they actually got to work. This activity enabled volunteers to learn that even with their differences they all had something in common.
Giving Children Hope’s volunteer Coordinator gave a short speech on Martin Luther King Jr’s life and legacy and challenged the volunteers to awaken themselves to the needs of their community. As Martin Luther King was one voice that changed history, we are one voice that can bring hope to our local communities.
A Thank You from Women for World Health, Inc.
Giving Children Hope partnered with Women for World Health on their medical mission to Ecuador. Here is a thank you from our partners:
January 18, 2009
Giving Children Hope
8332 Commonwealth Ave.
Buena Park, CA 90621Re: Women for World Health’s Medical Mission Cuenca, Ecuador (November 2008)
To our Supporters at Giving Children Hope:
Our 16-member team returned in late November from what we believe was the first all-women medical mission to Ecuador. We were sponsored by one of the Rotary Clubs in Cuenca (the “Cuenca Patrimonio”) and were supported by generous individual, corporate, and foundation donors, including Giving Children Hope. Several dozen babies, children, teenagers, and adults were seen in clinic, and over the next five days, we performed 58 procedures (cleft lip, cleft palate, and nasal revisions) on 43 patients.
Throughout our time in Ecuador, one thing was crystal clear to those of us on our first mission: the level of gratitude expressed by the patients, parents, grandparents, and guardians was like nothing we’d ever seen or felt before. As our fellow team members who had been on other missions already knew, that fact alone will send us out the door to repeat this work over and over again.
Please accept our deep gratitude for the extensive help you provided to gather and organize medical equipment and supplies prior to our trip. It was nothing short of amazing!
Sincerely,
Bridget Weber
Treasurer, Women for World Health, Inc.
