2 Years in Review

Two years ago I joined the team at 200 Orphanages Worldwide. When I accepted the opportunity I knew that this would be a unique chance to do something meaningful.

The first year was a time of growth and learning. Getting to know founder, Jan Hanson,  from approximately 2,981 miles away and learning how to support her in the best way possible. I was focusing on understanding how to tell the story of the work we do and how special it is that we get to make in impact, that we will likely never be able to see in-person. The work that we do exists thousands of miles away from us, in developing countries where everything is different from the way we live in America. But that is one of the things that makes this work so special. Our donors are passionate about serving those that we will never meet while knowing we will likely never get to directly be on the ground to see the impact of our donations.

Thank you donors, for trusting us with your hard earned dollars. We promise to you that we look closely at the organizations we partner with and our that our passionate Board does a wonderful job of vetting every check that goes out the door.

I enjoyed everything I learned the first 18 months on the job with Jan and 200 Orphanages, but it has really been these last 6 months of 2020 where I have been able to see the true heart and vision of the organization.

As we witness Covid-19 in our own backyard, we also understand this is a worldwide pandemic that no one can escape. It has impacted each of our partners around the world. We have worked closely with them over the past few months to understand their needs and how this virus has changed their budgets, priorities, and day to day health and safety. When we heard how they would be impacted, we jumped into action and created the Emergency Relief Partner Need Fund, a campaign focused on raising money to give to our partners to meet their basic and most urgent needs of food, fuel, and medicine for the children and communities they serve. Our Board approved us moving $10,000 from reserves to use as a matching opportunity for donations. Within 3 weeks, we reached our goal and raised over $10,000.

 

It has been inspiring to be involved with an organization that is ready to pivot and meet the needs of those we serve. I am thankful to play a small part of it and look forward to the year to come as we continue to listen to our partners and rally our donors to do what they best – provide safety, shelter, and sustainability to orphaned children around the world.

 

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