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Courtesy of World Child Project.
Try walking into any grocery store and you pretty quickly realize there’s no shortage of causes to donate money to. You could save some cats, for example, or help build a basketball court. You could donate directly to the homeless, or even think about the veterans. Simply put, the world doesn’t just need help - more often than not it needs YOUR help. So what’s the average compassionate human to do? Is there one cause that can combine the future of our planet with the immediacy of the human need, plus a heaping helping of cuteness to help seal the deal? Perhaps. Consider the World Child Project.
This holiday season, LAist will be bringing you a myriad of options for giving to the greater common good. In fact, our resident PhiLAnthropist has already started. And while a lot of folks are interested in telling you where you should hand over your hard-earned dollar, maybe the bigger question is why. Enter, again the new non-profit, World Child Project. On the surface, it sounds like another in a line of Sally Struthers ripoffs where $1 a day will feed a kid a flounder, but he’ll never learn to fish. That is to say, the WCP has no interest in throwing short-term money at long-term problems. Instead, real change needs to come from, surprisingly, below. And this new model is exactly where the World Child Project shines.
For the most part, there are two non-profit models operating today. The first is to fly in like a benevolent savior to deliver much needed staples such as food or medicine. But where’s the sustainability and (more importantly) the attack of the root cause of the issue? Hunger and poverty come from somewhere, especially when it concerns those of us who can’t help themselves just yet - orphans. The second model relies on top-level interaction with large conglomerates or local governments that can be inefficient or, worse yet, purely ineffectual. Instead, World Child Project hopes to raise funds towards “developing and supporting the most promising local leaders” in areas of the world where it’s needed most. There may be an orphanage in Mexico that has the desire to expand but not the means, or a doctor in Kentucky with the willingness to pass their knowledge onto others, but lacks the connections. Instead, WCP fills these gaps by bringing together “educators, scientists, doctors, academics” and even artists to support the neediest of us all: orphaned and abandoned children.
Graciously, WCP does not seek to interfere with what’s already working in the areas they hope to support, and that may be its best calling card yet. According to John Duda, CEO: “We’re not interested in being Americans that are coming and saving the day, we’re interested in finding the local change agents that are going to help us grow the internal capacity for these programs to be effective, and to continue (after we leave)”. Simply put: there are existing organizations on the ground on areas of need that shouldn’t be overshadowed or overburdened by outside welfare. Instead, why not work with these organizations to “develop regional expertise in effective integrated services for orphaned and abandoned children to get all the supports of a family.” And that’s the most important point of all: support.
Like any good new Los Angeles organization, World Child Project will be having a holiday party on December 9th at MyHouse in Hollywood from 7:30-10:30 to spread their message, garner support, and have a great time for an even better cause. There will be an auction from lots of big names - House of Blues, Tom Ford, Matt Kemp, Don Mattingly, Season 9 American Idol tickets, and even a two-person package to Turks & Caicos, among much else. Tickets can also be bundled with donation packages to care centers, farms, and schools. And, of course, they’re tax deductible.
