Last week, Oziel , a toddler at Douglas Children’s Home, turned four years old. His sponsor family donated money to purchase him a birthday gift, through the Shelter Sponsorship Gift Catalog. They specified that the money was to be used to buy him a gift of an action figure and toy car. Little did they know that just a few days prior, when asked what he wanted for his birthday, Oziel had told Back2Back staff members that he was hoping for a Hulk action figure. Needless to say, when he received the exact gift he had been hoping for from his sponsors in Ohio, he was elated.
Oziel receives a birthday gift from his sponsor
Child sponsorship is helping children like Oziel in a multitude of ways. Prior to the launch of the Shelter Child Sponsorship Program (last June), many of the homes were underfunded, operating on a fraction of the needed operating budget. Through this program, Back2Back has been able to come alongside the homes and help support them with resources to provide the children with a higher level of care.
For example, the children are now eating more nutritious and balanced meals with meat and produce (versus just rice and beans as was the norm before). Thanks to sponsorship, Oziel and the twelve other children his age are now attending an excellent pre-school, whereas before they were attending a public pre-school with a ratio of one teacher per every three classes of children. This would not have been possible without sponsorships. These are just a few of the practical ways in which sponsors help to improve the quality of care at the children’s homes.
Interested in sponsoring a child like Oziel? Contact Claire Rogers at the Back2Back US office at claire@ back2backministries.org.