The Sheridan Sun Online
10/03/10 4:53 PM
PROFILE
SOS helps abandoned and orphaned children in 132 countries
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By Lindsey Papp
For 60 years, SOS Children’s Villages has been providing orphaned and abandoned children with a stable family environment. It all started in 1949 when Hermann Gmeiner build the first SOS Children’s village in Imst, Austria. His goal was to see that all children left orphaned and abandoned had a family, Hermann Gmeiner with children from the SOS Children's Village Poá in Brazil. and somewhere to call home. Since then SOS Children’s Villages have started operations in 132 countries and territories around the world.
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IN PRINT
Courtesy of SOS Children's Villages website
"Every village and SOS association around the world shares a common vision or mission." Pick up the Sheridan Sun in print for more great stories.
As of January, 2009, there are 491 SOS villages around the world in places such as Beijing China, St Petersburg Russia, Vancouver , Marseille, France, Bucharest and Great Britain. “Every village and SOS association around the world share a common vision or mission,” said McBride. “We’re all focused on serving the needs of orphaned and abandoned children.” It is the belief of SOS Children’s Villages that it requires a supportive and protective family environment to help children reach their full potential. The care model for each village is based on four things: The mother/parent Brothers and sisters The house The village “Our vision is that every child should have a loving family to grow up in,” said McBride. In order for a child to be admitted to one of the SOS villages, they must be in need of a permanent home with no other options available to them. SOS has made it one of their goals to not separate biological siblings and although admittance age is 10 and under there are in some cases allowances for older siblings. There is no specific age that a child has to leave the SOS villages, they are allowed to leave whenever they have amassed the skills needed to look after and support themselves. “Once the child is with us they can expect 15 or 20 years of support, whatever is needed to bring them to adulthood,” said McBride. file:///Volumes/Sun%20Online/NEW%20INTERNATIONAL/Winter%202010/January%2028/web/profile_sos.html
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The Sheridan Sun Online
10/03/10 4:53 PM
SOS Children’s Villages is an international non-governmental social development organization that relies on the donations from people all around the world to help cover costs.
More than 6 million people donate money to SOS to finance the operational costs of looking after so many children.
“Operationally, it’s a major challenge to look after the everyday needs of 77,000 children in our care,” said McBride. “One of the biggest challenges we face is making ends meet, finding sufficient financial resources every year to sustain everything that we are now committed to.” Every year more than 6 million people give the SOS Children’s Villages a vote of confidence by donating to their cause. “We’ve been nominated 14 times for the Nobel Peace Prize,” said McBride. “A few years ago we did win the Hilton humanitarian award, probably the biggest award given to organizations like ours on an annual basis.” To make a donation online go to the SOS Children’s Villages website, www.sos-childrensvillages.org, and click on the Get Involved navigation button. You can also sponsor a child from any of the villages around the world, or opt to sponsor an ongoing project. You can also help SOS if you have your own website by creating a like to the SOS Children’s villages website.
file:///Volumes/Sun%20Online/NEW%20INTERNATIONAL/Winter%202010/January%2028/web/profile_sos.html
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