Compassion International
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Compassion International is a Christian child sponsorship organization dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty around the world. Compassion was founded in 1952 by Reverend Everett Swanson to help children orphaned by war in South Korea. Today, Compassion International functions in twenty-four countries and helps more than 725,000 children.
Compassion equips children for the future by providing for their core needs; spiritual, physical, economic, and social. By working with local church partners, Compassion International's program offers educational opportunities, health care and health-related instruction, and supplemental nutrition. Compassion also offers life-skills training and opportunities to hear about and respond to the gospel.
Child sponsors can communicate with their children through letters and e-mail. If they wish to travel, sponsors are generally able to visit their sponsored children. When a sponsored child lives in a small village without an airport, Compassion will even make arrangements to either bring the sponsor to the child or bring the child to a larger, neighboring city.
[edit] Where the Money Goes
Compassion is committed to seeing that eighty percent or more of its expenditures are used for program activities, including cash grants to projects, field training, program evaluation, communication between sponsor and child, and other critical activities. They are also committed to carefully managing their administrative and fund-raising costs in order to provide the most effective and meaningful programs possible.
Compassion advertises on the internet and at Christian concerts. Many Christian bands have championed their cause and they encourage attendees to visit the Compassion International table between bands or even between songs and sponsor one or more children. Compassion is featured at the annual Spirit West Coast music festivals.
