Did You Know???

Through my years as a sponsor, while creating this web site, and during my visits to CCF projects, I have learned many things about CCF and child sponsorship. The following are bits of info. that I think all sponsors should know...
  • If a sponsor is going to discontinue sponsorship, they're most likely to do it within the first several months. Sponsors who have kept the committment for a year are likely to be long-term, dedicated sponsors.

  • When a sponsor discontinues support, the child continues to receive services, but the project receives less funding until the sponsorship base is replenished.

  • Of all the sponsored children that I've met, the most common thing by far that they've told me is that they wish they had a photo of and knew more about their sponsor.

  • Children who do not receive letters from their sponsors sometimes wonder if it has something to do with them. I was told of a six-year old boy whose elder sister had received letters when she had a sponsor, but has never received one from his sponsor. "Don't they like boys?" he asked.

  • Services are designed to empower the children and families, rather than causing them to be dependent upon handouts. Nutrition programs, for example, will focus on providing families with ways to nourish themselves, rather than simply handing out food. In Mexico, for example, parents are taught to use soy, a highly nourishing, inexpensive, and available resource that is not a traditional part of the diet. Seeds , seedlings, and animals (such as chickens) may also be provided. When necessary, though, food may be provided at low- or no-cost.

  • One of CCF's key focuses is the needs of children aged 0 to 5. Children who receive immunizations, good nutrition, health & dental care, education, etc. during this time are much more likely to do well as older children.

  • A community that has no government services (roads, garbage pickup, power, water, sewage, public transportation, health centers, etc.) is more likely to be receiving them after the families and CCF begin the process themselves.

  • A good way to maintain contact with your sponsored child after he/she "graduates" from the program is to request to sponsor a younger child in the family.

  • Each project has a specific number of allotted spaces for "affiliated" children. A child who is affiliated may be sponsored. Other children in an affliated child's family also receive the same services.

  • The number of sponsored children in a project is directly related to the funding it receives.

  • Younger children are more likely to receive new sponsors. As a result, older children that are waiting for a sponsor may pass their affiliation on to younger children and give up the opportunity to benefit from a sponsorship relationship. In my opinion, older children benefit more from the sponsorship relationship, and so it is particularly disappointing that they are less likely to receive a sponsor. A great thing about sponsoring a younger child, though, is that you have the opportunity to sponsor that child for a long time, and watch him/her grow into a young adult. In any case, I believe that new sponsors should consider requesting an older child.
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