http://www.chances4children.org/c4c/media/news en allan@espringdesigns.com Copyright 2010 2010-03-09T21:16:45+00:00 http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/earthquake_relief_efforts_march_9_2010/ http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/earthquake_relief_efforts_march_9_2010/#When:21:16:45Z As U.S. military  troops begin their withdrawal from Port au Prince, many Haitians fear that international aid is ending-  even as the city is still mired in misery and vulnerable to unrest.As troops pack their duffels and begin to fly home, one can’t help but wonder whether U.N. peacekeepers and local police are up to the task of maintaining order. More than a half-million people still live in vast encampments that have grown more unpleasant in recent days with the early onset of the rainy season. Many Haitians fear that the departure of the American troops is a sign of dwindling international interest in the plight of the Haitian people following the catastrophic Jan. 12 earthquake. Which is why, Chances for Children has decided to extend our Relief Efforts and reach out to other orphanages in Haiti to help provide much needed food, medicine, supplies and aid. There are over 100 orphanages in Haiti and many of these do not have the resources and support to continue to care for the children they house. Many of these orphanages care for  children who are not available for adoptions and therefore get very little support from outside groups. While Haiti has faded from the media spotlight, it has not faded from our spotlight. Thanks to your generous donations, C4C has purchased additional supplies and air cargo space -  this week we will be sending down another 10,000 pounds of food, medicine, baby items, tents and supplies. These donations will be delivered to orphanages throughout Port au Prince, specifically targeting many locations in Delmas. The donations will be given to small orphanages who have little to no food for their children and will truly benefit from this aid.  Since the earthquake hit, Chances for Children has been able to fly in over 25,000 pounds of relief supplies!!!! In partnership with another U.S. non-profit, Cloud of Fire, C4C will be on the ground in Haiti distributing these supplies. We want to make sure our Haitian neighbors know they are not forgotten. We will also be spending time in Leogane (the epicenter of the quake) where we will deliver food and tents to many families who are still living under giant tarps. Again, none of this would be possible without your continued support. We want to be excellent stewards of your donations and will continue to communicate our efforts with each of you who have donated. We are also in the process of collecting supplies for a shipping container which will leave Florida late March. Please visit the blog http;//chances4childrendonationblogspot.com to see what supplies are needed at this time. We are very much in need of cloth diapers, formula, portable cribs and food. Thank you again for making this possible - please continue to keep the people of Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. With Gratitude,Chances for Children 2010-03-09T21:16:45+00:00 http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/fundraiser_in_houston_a_success/ http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/fundraiser_in_houston_a_success/#When:02:52:02Z Congratulations to Scott Shackouls and his team who planned and orchestrated a fundraiser last week in Houston Texas. Their efforts generated $22,000.00 in donations and the funds will be instrumental as we begin our Renewal Efforts in Haiti. Hoping to be able to announce our new plans soon!! Thank you to Scott, Elizabeth, Gray and the rest of the team - amazing accomplishment. 2010-03-03T02:52:02+00:00 http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/watkins_family_and_friends_fundraiser_breakfast/ http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/watkins_family_and_friends_fundraiser_breakfast/#When:15:55:24Z Thanks to the Watkins family and friends for holding a fundraiser to assist Chances for Children! "On Feb. 13, almost one month exactly after the quake, about 150 people attended a fundraiser breakfast at Cherry Valley Elementary School in Polson that was organized by the Watkins family and their friends and co-workers." Excerpt courtesy Lake County Leader News Read the full article here: http://www.leaderadvertiser.com/articles/2010/02/17/news/doc4b7c3094427d1554429912.txt 2010-02-19T15:55:24+00:00 http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/earthquake_relief_efforts_update_21710/ http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/earthquake_relief_efforts_update_21710/#When:16:09:44Z Relief Efforts in Haiti in response to the 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010.  Chances for Children, through the generous support of it’s donors, has responded with immediate relief programs to make a significant impact on the community where we work. In the 5 weeks since the earthquake hit - the C4C community has accomplished a number of significant milestones: January 22nd 18 children were brought from Haiti to the U.S. on a charter plane, where they were met by their adoptive families. January 28th 8,000 pounds of food, formula, water, medicine and supplies were purchased and delivered to the orphanage in Haiti  February 8th 6,000 pounds of food, medicine and supplies were delivered to Lamerdelle through a joint project with Village of Vision for Haiti. This additional shipment of food and medicines will continue to provide meals for the children at both the orphanage and the village school. Ongoing Relief Efforts We are currently collecting donations of food, medicine and hygiene products for a container which will leave Florida March 15th. This shipment will is being sent to assist other orphanages in need as well as replenish some specific supplies at Creche Enfant Jesus. Please visit our donation blog at http://chances4childrendonations.blogspot.com/ for a list of supplies that are needed and information on how to donate. Renewal Fund In partnership with The Haiti Renewal Fund http://www.haitirenewal.org/ - Chances for Children is working with other organizations to begin the long and difficult process of rebuilding and renewing Haiti. We are in the process of selecting specific rebuilding partners and look forward to sharing these plans with you. Once we have our project defined we will then prepare long term development plans. All donations made to Chances for Children targeted to the Renewal Fund will be matched by Foster and Lynn Friess (up to $2 million). C4C also launched the Kids Helping Kids campaign - this program is underway in many schools across the country. These funds will be matched by the Friess Family and all donations will be used to rebuild schools in Haiti. We are anxious to start rebuilding, once it is realistic to do so in Haiti. Adoption Update There is currently no new news on the state of adoptions from Haiti. In fact, Aid Organizations have been slow to admit children into orphanages after the situation developed with the group of Americans trying to take children out of the country without papers. This certainly, did not help our efforts. Chances for Children continues to work with the State Department and other political forces in Washington D.C. to find a way to expedite the process for those children who have been orphaned (no living biological parent) by the earthquake. In closing – thank you again for your support. Your donations have allowed us to make significant improvements in the lives of the children we serve. We are grateful for your help. We will continue to provide updates as we move into our renewal/rebuilding efforts. With gratitude,Chances for Children 2010-02-17T16:09:44+00:00 http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/jason_richardson_of_the_phoenix_suns_23_donates_and_supports_c4c_in_their_e/ http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/jason_richardson_of_the_phoenix_suns_23_donates_and_supports_c4c_in_their_e/#When:18:52:36Z "Suns star Jason Richardson is making a donation of $23,000 to Chances for Children, a local organization that works to save the lives of children living in poverty in Haiti, to aid in the ongoing relief efforts of the Caribbean nation." Read the full article here: http://www.nba.com/suns/news/jrich_haiti_release_100210.html Excerpt courtesy of the NBA.com Video clip here: http://www.nba.com/suns/video/2010/02/10/jrichhaiti100210wmv-1227781/index.html 2010-02-14T18:52:36+00:00 http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/chances_for_children_launches_kids_helping_kids_hope_for_haiti_program/ http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/chances_for_children_launches_kids_helping_kids_hope_for_haiti_program/#When:05:17:45Z February 16, 2010 - March 2, 2010 Kids for Kids – Hope for Haiti  - Nationwide School Coin Drive to Raise Funds to Assist in Repairing and Rebuilding Schools in Haiti. This program is sponsored by Chances for Children in partnership with the Haiti Renewal Fund - donations will be matched by Foster & Lynn Friess!!! As a part of our ongoing effort to promote the long-term rebuilding and revitalization of Haiti, Chances for Children has officially launched the Kids Helping Kids Hope for Haiti Program. This program is designed for schools and youth groups to gather coins to help rebuild schools in Haiti following the January 12, 2010 earthquake that damaged or destroyed 90% of the schools in Port Au Prince. While we are working to launch this project nationwide, we believe that your personal connection to Chances for Children is what makes our programs so successful.  We are asking for your help, once again, in changing the lives of the children of Haiti.  We would like to ask you to contact schools or youth groups in your area and invite them to participate in the program. Or alternatively, you can forward school email contacts to april@chances4children.org and we can email the school on your behalf. The program begins the week of 2/16 – so we need to get information to schools very quickly. All the materials a school or youth group will need to get started can be found at  http://www.chances4children.org/c4c/projects/kids_helping_kids/ Thank you again for your ongoing support and dedication to Chances for Children. 2010-02-09T05:17:45+00:00 http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/alliance_for_children_foundation_partners_with_c4c/ http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/alliance_for_children_foundation_partners_with_c4c/#When:03:26:42Z The Alliance for Children Foundation www.afcfoundation.org has joined the C4C Team. The Alliance for Children, Inc. is a non-profit international adoption agency based in Massachusetts - committed to assisting needy children both through the location of adoptive families, and through financial contributions and donations. The Alliance for Children Foundation made a $5,000.00 donation to our Renewal Efforts to further our common goal of humanitarian aid to Haiti. We look forward to a long and productive relationship with an organization who brings over 25 years of international adoption expertise. Together we are building to improve the lives of children in Haiti. 2010-02-02T03:26:42+00:00 http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/earthquake_relief_efforts_update_131/ http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/earthquake_relief_efforts_update_131/#When:04:35:08Z The Chances for Children community collectively accomplished two key objectives in the first two ½  weeks after the earthquake hit. January 28th8,000 pounds of food, formula, water, medicine and supplies were purchased and delivered to the orphanage in Haiti.  January 22nd 18 children were brought from Haiti to the U.S. on a charter plane, where they were met by their adoptive families. Both of these accomplishments should make each of us extremely proud – while many organizations are struggling to get their supplies into Haiti – we were successful! Additionally, many families (adopting from other orphanages) were called in the middle of the night and informed that their adoptive children would be arriving on a military plane in a few hours. C4C was able to have all of our children travel together, avoid immigration problems and provide a welcoming setting for these new families. These accomplishments were achieved through a community that donated funds, volunteered time, provided services, organized drives and together, we made it happen. Chances for Children is proud of what we have accomplished TOGETHER! Supplies Update The Relief Team (Kim Hawkins, Kathi Juntunen, Alecia Settle, Marvin List , Ann McGregor and her students, and Beth and Jim Peifer) arrived in Florida on Sunday and began purchasing supplies under the organizational genius of our leader, April Connors. The supplies were then packed and loaded into a charter cargo plane bound for Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. We spent many days working out the logistics of getting the supplies to the orphanage and evaluated helicopters, warehousing, trucks, small panes, etc. In the end to avoid damaged or stolen cargo – we opted to have the supplies trucked into the small village of Lamerdelle (which is about a 6 hour drive from Santo Domingo). For those of you have traveled to Lamerdelle, it’s not exactly a metropolis and finding your way there is tricky – even with Google Earth coordinates. We were nervous about the supplies actually arriving intact. But we hit pay dirt, when one of our team members offered to go with the trucks to make sure the cargo was delivered. Alecia Settle became our hero!! When she arrived on the cargo plane into Santo Domingo the first thing Alecia noticed was utter chaos - boxes from other aid organizations littered the tarmac. The airport was overwhelmed with cargo and had no ability to store or track all the boxes. Alecia, along with the pilots and trucking company located every last pallet and box and made sure they got on the transport vehicles. It took almost 4 hours to complete this part of the job. As night fell, they headed out and drove all night to reach the border town of Jimani where you must clear Haiti customs. The plan had been to arrive before customs opened at 5:00 in the morning. Alecia and her Dominican trucking team arrived at 3:00 am to find at least 50 trucks already in the que. It took them 3 hours to clear customs. With no GPS system, no map and limited English, the truck drivers managed to locate the crèche (with Alecia’s guidance) and not only did they arrive first thing in the morning they also received a police escort for the last 20 minutes of their drive. The whole village must have cheered when they heard the police sirens in front of the crèche and saw the truck loaded with food. We are happy to report that under Alecia’s watch every last item made it to the orphanage. The children at the orphanage now have food, medicine and supplies and our team in Haiti can re-open the school and provide lunch for the children. In addition to all of you who helped accomplish this miraculous achievement, we are also grateful to both IBC and General Air Services for their exceptional service. Adoption Update The situation in Haiti remains unchanged, and in fact, may be a little worse then when we last communicated. It appears that organizations like UNICEF, Save the Children and World Vision are pressuring the Haitian and U.S. governments to halt adoptions. At the same time, orphanages are being asked to take in 100’s of children. Crèche Enfant Jesus has been asked to admit anywhere from 100 – 300 children!!! Chances for Children wants to work hard to see that those children who fit the “abandoned/orphaned” classification receive expedited processing to help find them loving and nurturing new homes. A press statement from Chances for Children went out on Friday – effectively going head to head with organizations like UNICEF who view adoption as a last resort. The press release is posted on our website and can be found at http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chances-for-children-founder-craig-juntunen-urges-international-adoption-as-part-of-the-solution-in-aftermath-of-haiti-earthquake-82966697.html For all of you who have contacted us about adoption – we ask that you begin the process by following the steps listed on our website. When adoptions reopen in Haiti, we would love to have a pipeline of new families ready to go! Relief to Renewal Now that our immediate relief efforts have been accomplished we are moving to our renewal and long term objectives. The report from USAID shows that an estimated 112,250 people have died from the earthquake and another 194,000 have suffered significant injures. Additionally, 609,000 people have no where to live and are classified as “displaced”. There is an immediate need to begin helping the Haitian people get an infrastructure and permanence back into their lives. The Haiti Renewal Fund (http://www.haitirenewal.org/) is a partnership with other Non-Profits to provide rebuilding efforts village by village. The Renewal Fund takes a holistic approach to rebuilding Haiti – by helping to provide education (schools), health (medical clinics), water (clean drinking water) to small communities. Additionally, we will be working to send container of supplies, food, clothing, etc to Haiti once the ports re-open. We know many of you have been collecting supplies and we ask you to continue to hold on to them. Once we know that the ports are working and customs is able to process containers we will be organizing and sending a shipping container. What else you can do The media attention is slowly slipping away from Haiti, yet the despair and devastation continue. If you are looking for ways to get involved we have some suggestions: Write or contact your congress people and ask them to vote in favor of the Families for Orphans Act (S-1458) sponsored by Senator Mary Landrieu. Let them know how important international adoption is to help the children of Haiti. http://www.jcics.org/families%20for%20orphans.htm Continue to stay involved in the long term efforts in Haiti. Help us launch our Kids helping Kids campaign – a program aimed at schools and youth groups. This outreach will be launched in early February and is a great way to connect kids to the value of reaching out to others. We will have all the information on our website within a week. If you are interested in adopting – get started on your paperwork and requirements. Become part of the solution to rebuild Haiti by donating funds and resources. Again, we can never adequately express our gratitude for all you have done. What started out as something small has turned into a groundswell. Now is the time to make lasting changes in adoptions in Haiti and in rebuilding a damaged country. Thank you to each and every one of you for your participation in this effort! 2010-02-01T04:35:08+00:00 http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/labeling_intercountry_adoption_as_a_last_resort_is_an_insult_to_thousands_o/ http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/labeling_intercountry_adoption_as_a_last_resort_is_an_insult_to_thousands_o/#When:17:56:04Z SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- International adoption must be part of the solution for Haiti's orphaned children in the aftermath of the Jan. 12 earthquake, said Craig Juntunen, international child welfare advocate and the founder of Chances for Children. "It is time for some child advocacy organizations to stop calling international adoption the 'last resort,'" Juntunen said. "For many of these children, intercountry adoption is the 'best resort.'" In fact, Juntunen noted, a majority of Americans have a favorable opinion of intercountry adoption and believe that adoptive parents are as likely -- if not more likely -- to be responsible parents than biological parents. Juntunen announced he will release the full results of a new survey on international adoption Feb. 10. The first of its kind in 12 years, the survey of 1,000 respondents -- conducted by M4 Strategies of Costa Mesa, Calif. -- indicates that many Americans have a higher opinion of intercountry adoption than those espoused by a handful of organizations. Some estimates indicate Haiti had as many as 380,000 orphans prior to the earthquake. Now, surely, there are many thousands more, Juntunen noted. "My fear is that many of these children will be left behind -- neglected -- by the narrow-minded agendas of special interest groups," he said. "When it comes to the best interests of a child, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution." In many cases, the best answer for orphaned children is to remain in Haiti if there is a chance they can be re-united with parents or immediate extended family, said Juntunen. That is one reason why Chances for Children has partnered with the Haiti Renewal Fund to assist with the long-term rebuilding efforts in Haiti, especially those geared toward improving the welfare of children. Chances for Children supports a creche in Haiti, and is dedicated to the rebuilding of children's homes, children's hospitals, and schools in the stricken nation. However, many other children will be left to fend for themselves in an environment that cannot meet their basic needs: safe drinking water, food, shelter, clothing, health care, education and security, he said. "Neglect is as bad as abuse," he said. "We all need to open our eyes to the dire situation facing these children today." Juntunen believes labeling intercountry adoption as a "last resort" is an insult to the thousands of American families who have opened their homes to orphaned children from around the world. "I have firsthand experience with this, as my wife Kathi and I adopted our three children from Haiti," he said. "I live this experience day in and day out ... I know international adoption works." Haiti Renewal Fund was launched Jan. 20 with an initial matching grant of $2 million from Jackson Hole residents Lynn and Foster Friess augmented by a subsequent $1 million from Childhelp, drawn from donations specifically designated to the fund. Donations to "Haiti Renewal Fund/NCF" may be sent to the National Christian Foundation, 11625 Rainwater Drive, Suite 500, Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 or by clicking here to donate online at http://www.haitirenewal.org. Craig Juntunen founded Chances for Children with proceeds of sale of his successful business. Chances for Children has facilitated the adoptions of more than 100 Haitian orphans in the last three years. Juntunen authored Both Ends Burning, the story of how his wife Kathi and he adopted their children Amelec, Espie and Quinn from Haiti in 2006. Foster Friess founded the Brandywine Funds and since selling his firm in 2001 has promoted private sector solutions in order to curb increasing intrusiveness of government. Through their Friess Family Foundation, Foster and Lynn, his wife of 47 years, fund water purification units in Malawi and mobile medical vans for the medically underserved. WEB SITES for more information: Haiti Renewal Fund: http://www.haitirenewal.org   Chances for Children: http://www.chances4children.org/c4c/   Foster Friess Foundation: http://www.fosterfriess.com     2010-01-31T17:56:04+00:00 http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/letter_to_u.s._sen._john_mccain/ http://www.chances4children.org/index.php/c4c/read/letter_to_u.s._sen._john_mccain/#When:21:45:26Z To the Chances for Children Community: This is a follow-up letter sent to U.S. Sen. John McCain after a meeting with him last week. We ask you to contact your congressional representatives with a similar message: View Letter to U.S. Sen. John McCain (PDF fomat) Craig Juntunen 2010-01-28T21:45:26+00:00