Little Britches provides unique equine-based therapies to people with special needs, at-risk individuals and disadvantaged youth. Over 130 students participate yearly in therapeutic riding and driving programs designed to improve physical, mental, and emotional health. Support from Friends of Children has increased the number of students who can receive Occupational Therapy during their lessons, and helped launch the first “Summer Bridges at Little Britches” summer camp for urban youth.
Updated February 2012
SHARE Africa’s Orphan Sponsorship Program (SOS) makes a difference in the lives of hundreds of Kenyan children orphaned by AIDS. Through this program, The Friends of Children has supported the health and educational needs for over 20 orphans each year. All of us at The Friends of Children are honored to help this wonderful organization. The following – which says it all – is an excerpt of a letter we received from a 12 year-old girl in the SOS program. We are so proud to have a small hand in helping her to achieve her dream to one day become a nurse:
Christian Appalachian Project’s Eagle Childhood Development Center is located in one of the poorest counties in America. Through the center, children of all ages are engaged in essential enrichment programs. Eagle is the only resource center for children in the entire county, and provides healthy snacks, tutoring, and physical recreation – with an emphasis on nutrition and health to combat childhood obesity. In addition, this year over 1,000 parent training sessions and 269 in-home family literacy services were provided by staff and volunteers. The Friends of Children is proud to support CAP’s work for underprivileged children in the U.S.
When continually asked by people passing by their doors in Guatemala, “What is this place?” – wondering if the building is a cafeteria, a daycare, a school – Education & Hope’s answer is “all of the above!”
These Peruvian women are waiting patiently to see an OBGYN specialist. In the past, the impoverished Peruvian village of Uratari had literally no medical care within a three-day walk. Frighteningly, approximately 10% of all children perished before the age of five, and 7% of women died during childbirth. As a result of Friends of Children’s generous supporters, The Denan Project has opened a new health clinic. With an OBGYN seeing patients two times a week, and vital access to ultrasound equipment, problem pregnancies are spotted early, and crucially needed pre-natal care is provided to significantly reduce mother and infant mortality. 
In 1987, the Sisters of Mercy began their program working with poor children and their single mothers in Colon, Panama. With no more than a small rented corner space to provide services, the sisters worked with love and compassion to provide everything these desperate families needed — food, medicine, education, skill development, and tending to their spiritual needs.