BrightPoint for Children

My wife and I have a special place in our hearts for the children of Kenya, and in an effort to help these poor, needy, and beautiful kids, we have begun serving alongside BrightPoint for Children — an organization that helps Kenyan children through sponsorship. We serve as "Point People," which means the children in a home that we work with will only receive sponsorship if we find sponsors for them — so it's a wonderfully fulfilling, exciting, and challenging job.

We are currently working with the Rhema Kinangop Children's Home in Kenya, a home for 24 children ranging in age from 4 to 14. These children all need help with their Basic Needs: food, clothing, shelter, health care, and adult care — all of which are needed in order to attend and succeed in school (attending school is a requirement for sponsorship, too). The children are sleeping 2-3 to a bunk, and the long term plans are to expand the facility to better accommodate these children — and possibly take in a few more. Some of the Rhema children have special needs as well.

With Rhema, BrightPoint has left 11 children online so that anyone can sponsor them from anywhere in the world. The remaining 13 children will be handled by me, personally, from within my own local community — so they have been removed from the online site (this avoids double-sponsorship). I ask that all my readers visit the Rhema Kinangop page to read more about their dire situation, and to consider sponsoring one (or more) of these children. And if not Rhema, please consider sponsoring a child in one of the other Homes.

I want to quickly point out that my wife and I receive no personal gain from this, outside of the joy of helping these wonderful children. We have nothing up our sleeves, we receive no special tax breaks or incentives, etc. — it's all about helping these kids because we have the desire to do so. With that said, here are few specifics about BrightPoint and their sponsorship programs (all of which is available on their web site):

• Sponsorship is between $30 and $39 per month, per child.
• Over 90 percent of your monthly sponsorship money goes directly to support your child's program. The majority of BrightPoint operating costs in the U.S. are funded separately through General Contributions and other Fundraising Initiatives.
• Sponsorship contributions go toward the following:
  • Basic Needs Sponsorships – Your support will be combined with other sponsor support to purchase and provide basic needs items for every sponsored child within the program.
  • Primary School Sponsorships – Your support will be combined with other sponsor support to pay for education needs at the school. Your child and many other children will benefit.
  • Secondary School Sponsorships – Your support will directly fund secondary school costs for your child.
• BrightPoint for Children, Inc. is an approved 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Monthly Donations and any General Donations are tax-deductible. All donors will receive a year-end contribution statement for income tax purposes.

I encourage you all to visit BrightPoint's web site and spend some time reading though the wealth of information they have provided. Their FAQs Page will be of particular interest — and feel free to email Jane if you have any questions the site doesn't answer. And, of course, feel free to with any questions, too.

As more homes become available and in need of "Point People," my wife and I will add them to our responsibilities — so be sure to check out this page every so often to see if we've added more children in need! Thanks for considering — please help us help these children. It may seem like an uphill battle, and it is — but these lives are worth fighting for.