Save the Children: Over 80 Years of Helping Children and Families in Need

In 1919, teacher and sociologist Eglantyne Jebb founded the Save the Children Fund in England to help children in war-torn central Europe. More than a decade later, a group of concerned citizens who were inspired by Jebb's vision established Save the Children in America to aid Appalachian children and families struggling to survive during the Great Depression. Today, Save the Children works internationally to create lasting, positive change in the lives of children in more than 120 countries. The world's leading independent organization for children, Save the Children has a broad domestic and global footprint thanks to the support of its donors and partners. In 2012, Save the Children helped more than 78 million children in the United States and over 125 million children globally.

Currently led by president and CEO Carolyn Miles, Save the Children works in the heart of marginalized, impoverished, and vulnerable communities, helping children and families help themselves. The organization's core philosophies have always been self-help and self-reliance – that development takes place when people take charge of their own lives. Save the Children helps save children's lives, defend them from exploitation, and assist them in accessing health care and education. Additionally, the organization responds to natural disasters, civil conflicts, and ethnic violence, staying in communities to help them rebuild and recover.



Recognized for its commitment to accountability, collaboration, and innovation, Save the Children has received top awards from charity watchers, publishers, and consumer advocates, including an A+ ranking from the American Institute of Philanthropy, a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, and a Top-Rated Award from Great Nonprofits.

While Save the Children runs diverse programs and follows a multi-disciplinary approach, its mission has always been to improve the lives of children in need around the world. The organization envisions a planet where every child has the right to survival, development, protection, and participation.

The Debbie Allen Dance Academy: Inspiring Young People Through Dance

Opened in 2001 by award-winning choreographer Debbie Allen and retired NBA star Norman Nixon, the Debbie Allen Dance Academy (DADA) in Culver City, California is a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding the reach of dance and theater arts for the youth of the Greater Los Angeles Area and the world. DADA aims to enrich and transform young lives through arts education – whether students decide to pursue a professional career or not, they will walk away from DADA with discipline, self-esteem, creativity, and self-confidence, all of which are important in life.

Allen and Nixon founded the Debbie Allen Dance Academy to fill a void for the young people of the Greater Los Angeles Area who are interested in learning dance. When the academy opened its doors, hundreds of kids and their parents lined up to enroll. Within a decade, DADA has become world-renowned for its mission, faculty, and alumni, many of whom are now working in film, television, and on Broadway.

The Creative Visions Foundation: A Launchpad for Creative Activists

Part incubator, part agency, and part academy, the Creative Visions Foundation (CVF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and inspiring creative activists – individuals who use media and the arts to spur real change in the world around them. Headquartered in California, CVF was inspired by the life of artist, adventurer, and activist Dan Eldon, who was killed in Somalia in 1993 while covering the conflict as a Reuters photojournalist. In 1998, his mother Kathy Eldon and sister Amy Eldon Turtletaub started the Creative Visions Foundation to honor his legacy and to assist people like Dan who create meaningful change in the world around them through media and the arts.



Since then, CVF has incubated over 100 projects and productions on 5 continents. The foundation connects creative activists to mentors, strategic partnerships, funding and distribution channels, and a myriad other tools and resources. By creating a community between those on the ground and those who can help, CVF has assisted its creative activists in raising more than $11.2 million for their projects and reaching over 90 million people worldwide.

To carry out its mission, the Creative Visions Foundation runs three programs: the Creative Activist Program (CAP), Rock Your World, and the Dan Eldon Project. CAP supports up to 75 creative activist projects by providing essential guidance and resources such as fiscal sponsorship, strategic networking, access to CVF's funding partners and network of industry-leading mentors, and seminars and educational programs. Rock Your World is an innovative project-based curriculum targeted at middle and high school students that engages them in real world issues. The program inspires youth to ask questions about the challenges they see locally and globally, then guides them through a process of researching an issue and creating an “action campaign” to address it. Last but not least, the Dan Eldon Project offers exhibitions of Dan's art, products inspired by his art, and educational programs.

HomeAgain: Shelter and Support for Richmond's Homeless

Dedicated to helping homeless individuals and families in metro Richmond, HomeAgain provides shelter and support services to nearly 200 men, women, children, and veterans every night.

The organization runs two 90-day emergency programs, both located in downtown Richmond: the Espigh Family Shelter for women and children and the Men's Emergency Shelter. Upon their arrival, the men, women, and children who enter HomeAgain's emergency programs are given basic necessities such as healthy food, a warm shower, and a safe place to sleep. They then participate in a scheduled day that sets up the framework for rebuilding their lives. Residents are expected to complete daily chores at the shelters while working, seeking employment, or attending school. They also take part in case management and life skill services, including budgeting and money management, mental health therapy, personal goal development, and substance abuse and relapse prevention counseling.

Additionally, HomeAgain operates two transitional programs: Family INRICH and the Veteran's Transitional Program. In both programs, clients must be committed to making significant life changes and living independently and are given access to intensive case management services.

The Children's Center: Caring for Oklahoma's Youngsters

Located in Bethany, Oklahoma, The Children's Center is a private, non-profit pediatric hospital dedicated to providing medical care, comprehensive therapy, and education to children in a cost-effective manner. The Children's Center was founded in 1898 by Mattie Mallory to help the orphans of Oklahoma City. While the center's mission has changed through the decades, it has always focused on the well-being of children and followed Mallory's basic principles of faith, hope, and love.

The Children's Center believes that all children are of equal worth and offers a broad range of medical services, social services, and rehabilitative care to children with complex medical and physical disabilities in Bethany and the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Committed to maximizing the potential of each child, The Children's Center provides specialized sub-acute medical care, state-of-the-art respiratory care, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology, among other services. Additionally, the center's Pediatric Medical Rehabilitation Unit (PMRU) is the only pediatric-focused inpatient rehabilitation program in Oklahoma.

Project Harar: Rebuilding Faces in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is home to about 90 million people, 85 percent of whom live in rural and remote areas. Africa's oldest independent country, Ethiopia is one of the poorest nations in the world. Young children are deprived of adequate food, water, and medicine; as a result, one in six children die before their fifth birthday. In rural areas, there is only one doctor for every 70,000 people. Moreover, the average annual income of a rural farmer makes it impossible for them to access health care. This leads to many complex conditions like facial disabilities being left untreated.

More than ten years ago, Jonathan Crown was traveling across east Africa on a photographic journey and he ended up in the town of Harar in Ethiopia. While out on the streets around a market one afternoon, Crown was approached by a beggar who wore a veil to hide his missing right cheek and nose. The next morning, he met another street boy with terrible head injuries. In April 2001, Crown started Project Harar to help Ethiopian children like Jemal and Fhami gain access to the medical treatment they so desperately need.

Since then, Project Harar has helped countless young people receive treatment for various facial disabilities such as cleft lip, cleft palate, noma, tumors, and animal attacks. Based in Hampstead, England, the organization works in poor, rural areas in Ethiopia to raise awareness of the treatment available for facial disabilities. Project Harar's Ethiopian employees liaise with local health officials, community leaders, and social workers to find people living with facial disabilities. Candidate patients are provided information sheets and photographic processing to help them make an informed choice, and if they decide to have treatment, Project Harar arranges free transport and accommodation in the capital city of Addis Ababa. After patients return to their villages, Project Harar monitors their progress to ensure they develop healthy and fulfilling lives.

Maestro Cares: Giving Voice to Disadvantaged Children in Latin America

Launched in January of 2012 by singer-songwriter Marc Anthony and entrepreneur Henry Cardenas, the Maestro Cares Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping Latin American children through charitable organizations in the US and developing Latin American countries. Maestro Cares seeks to become the voice for millions of children facing hunger, homelessness, and violence every day. By providing basic needs such as food, housing, education, and clinics to orphaned and abandoned children throughout Latin America, Anthony and Cardenas hope to empower them with the confidence, discipline, and enthusiasm they need to become tomorrow's leaders.

“Our mission is to help Latin American children by creating healthy and safe environments for them, but a major priority is also supporting their academic needs,” said Cardenas. “Education is key because it will bring the children closer to their dreams.”

For its initial projects, Maestro Cares assisted in the development of orphanages in Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic by providing food, school supplies, classrooms, dorm rooms, and clinics that are necessary for a healthy learning environment. The foundation aims to instill a culture of hope, discipline, confidence, and a strong work ethic among children, and the first orphanage to benefit from Maestro Cares was Orfanato Niños de Cristo in La Romana, the Dominican Republic.

Maestro Cares' most recent project is a partnership with charity auction site Charitybuzz, where fans can bid on a once-in-a-lifetime experience to score front row seats to Anthony's concert and meet and greet with the star backstage. “It's going to be a fun night for a noble cause,” said Anthony. The auction will be open until July 11th and includes other items such as autographed guitars by Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, and Mana. Proceeds from the online auction will go towards the construction of a new residence and learning center for 100 neglected children in the Dominican Republic.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation Leaves No One Behind

After losing many close friends to AIDS in the early '90s, singer-songwriter Sir Elton John established the Elton John AIDS Foundation in the US in 1992 and later in the UK in 1993. Now one of the leading independent AIDS charities in the world, the foundation funds frontline programs that help alleviate the physical, emotional, and financial pain of individuals affected by HIV/AIDS. Believing that AIDS can be ended, the Elton John AIDS Foundation envisions and is working towards an AIDS-free future for everyone in the world.

Since its inception, the Elton John AIDS Foundation has provided information about HIV/AIDS to 150 million people worldwide, supplied livelihood and nutritional interventions to 100,000 people living with or affected by HIV in India, and given 80,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa access to anti-retroviral treatment, among others. To support its charitable activities, the foundation raises funds through various events such as arts-related exhibitions, clothing sales, and the annual White Tie and Tiara Ball.

The Adoption Exchange: Connecting Foster Children With Loving, Permanent Families

Founded in 1983, The Adoption Exchange is a non-profit child welfare organization working for safety and permanence in the lives of foster children. Believing that every child deserves a loving family, The Adoption Exchange acts as the link between children waiting in foster care and adoptive families. Providing expertise and support before, during, and after the adoption process, the organization recruits families for children who have survived abuse and neglect as well as trains child welfare professionals.

The Adoption Exchange began as an exchange point for caseworkers to discuss placement of children with families looking to adopt in the Rocky Mountain region. Today, The Adoption Exchange impacts national trends in child welfare and connects children in eight member states (Colorado, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming) with American families living in the US and abroad.

Since its inception, The Adoption Exchange has helped place nearly 6,700 waiting children in permanent adoptive homes. The non-profit envisions a world where all children are loved and grow up in safe and permanent families.

A Wider Circle: Helping the Destitute Lift Themselves Out of Poverty

 Described as “an example of the grassroots movement at its best” by the Examiner, A Wider Circle is a Silver Spring, Maryland-based non-profit organization dedicated to helping children and adults lift themselves out of poverty. Never saying no to anybody, A Wider Circle provides basic necessities to impoverished families daily, whether they're transitioning out of shelters or just living without these items. The organization also furnishes the homes of more than 1,000 children and adults every month for free, as well as leads educational workshops about healthy self-esteem, resume writing, and stress management, among others, at low-income schools and shelters. Going where the needs are greatest and doing what is most needed, A Wider Circle helps tens of thousands of people each year and more than 300 social service agencies that regularly contact the non-profit for assistance in serving their clients.

A Wider Circle was founded in 2001 by Dr. Mark Bergel, who at the time was working as a part-time instructor at American University, health professional, and consultant. He volunteered to deliver food to destitute residents in the Washington, DC area and was surprised at the poor living conditions he saw there. As he went from home to home, Dr. Bergel met families without beds, food, and access to basic health information. He subsequently began talking with non-profit leaders, social workers, shelter managers, and school personnel about forming an organization that would develop holistic programs – programs that would address both people's material and “inner” needs.

Shortly after its founding in October, A Wider Circle started delivering programs in February of 2002. During its first year, the organization served 1,081 individuals. Today, A Wider Circle serves over 23,000 people per year. In 2012 alone, A Wider Circle furnished the homes of more than 13,100 children and adults, delivered over 400 educational programs, and recycled more than 2 million pounds of furniture and home goods, collecting them from people who no longer needed them and distributing them to the needy for free.

A Wider Circle has received the Washington Area Women's Foundation Leadership Award and has been named “one of the best” charities by the Catalogue for Philanthropy.