Boys & Girls Club of Thurston County used our $25,000 grant to help get their Yelm, WA Club up and running in 2020 – just before the pandemic hit!
The club opened just in time to serve families who were deemed essential workers, but had kids who needed to be doing school at home. Many of those children were able to come to the club for remote school each day, so their parents could keep serving the community.
The Yelm club adjusted quickly, sanitized everything every day, and is now serving at max capacity (according to health guidelines) to keep kids progressing in school and their community moving.
We were grateful to be part of this heroic effort by the Yelm Boys & Girls Club staff!
In the spring, we made a grant to Rescue:Freedom International to help them seize opportunities that were presented due to the pandemic shutting down red light districts and sex trafficking around the world.
RFI used our funds to start the “Freedom Line” in Cambodia – a 24/7 crisis/sex trafficking hotline. It is the first one of it’s kind in Cambodia and in the first three months, the hotline received thousands of calls from sex trafficking victims, people who were vulnerable to being trafficked, etc.
Local organizations were able to follow up on 2,000 of those calls and Rescue:Freedom provided emergency food and hygiene packages for 993 strategically identified individuals who were highly vulnerable and in need of emergency support. That support kept girls from being trafficked!
In addition, the Cambodian government has recognized the hotline and is in support of it – which is a huge step in a country where trafficking has run rampant for many years.
ATK International used our $10,000 grant to build a dormitory for girls who are attending their high school. Thirty girls are now able to stay in a safe environment while they attend school. These girls are getting more rest because they’re not walking so far to get to and from school, they have light to study by in the evenings, they have access to bathing and better hygiene, and they are doing better in school. We are honored to be able to support this incredible opportunity to help these 30 girls (and hundreds of girls to come!) have a safe, healthy environment that improves their education!
In the spring, we made a grant to United Way of Thurston County to help meet the needs across the community due to the COVID pandemic. UWTC did an incredible job leveraging funds from many sources to support community partners across the county. Families in need were able to get food, eviction assistance, utilities help, and other basic needs met. Thank you UWTC!
This photo is some of the food UWTC and their partners acquired to share with families in need.
Heart for Lebanon used our $10,000 grant to provide
schooling and biblical character development for 300
Syrian refugee children who are living in Lebanon.
This quarter we got to support some great organizations across the globe and in our own backyard. It is a privilege to stand beside these partners who are changing the world – one life at a time.
We are delighted to partner with Rescue:Freedom during the pandemic. They are taking advantage of this time when brothels and red light districts are shut down overseas due to COVID-19 to get women and girls out of the horrific life of commercial sexual exploitation.
This photo is an empty red light district in Thailand.
SAFE in Washington
Our $10,000 grant was used to help 74
human trafficking survivors get jobs and
another 154 survivors get coached and
trained on their way to employment.
These 11 employers are already hiring survivors!
Northwest Family Life – to provide care, housing, and assistance to women and children who are escaping and recovering from domestic violence and human trafficking.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Washington
Our $3,000 sponsorship was leveraged into
$342,000 raised at their auction!
Rescue:Freedom International – to purchase a facility to protect, care for and educate children whose mothers work in brothels in a red-light district in West Bengal, India.
South Puget Sound Community College
Scholarships for deserving students.