What we are up to….
Since Starting Food + Water + Shelter in early 2020 we have supported :
-The feeding and nutritional needs of 12 Babies. These children were all not able to be cared for by a feeding organization due to lack of resources. All of these children were under 6months old and suffering from severe malnutrition. We have seen huge improvements in all of the children and will continue to feed these kids until they are fully healthy and able to be sustained on food available to their families.
-We have provided funds for nutritional items and other necessary items to 3 separate orphanages. This included formula, rice, porridge, and supplements. We have made these donation as our partners have been asked for assistance and hope to continue to provide to fill in the gaps.
-Provided money to a children’s home to be used at their discretion. This is the home that 2 of our board members children were in prior to adoption. We have stayed in touch and continued to support the efforts we have seen first hand. This is a very efficient organization that has proven itself to be very honest and trustworthy with its money.
-Provided funding for a new business. One of our Partners in country came to us with a business plan and overall plan for his NGO. We have provided funding for the purchase of the first van and all registration, licensing, and insurance cost. The first van started posting a profit each month of which a portion has been saved for expansion and servicing the business and the remaining has been used to daily expenses. We are working to continue to raise support to grow the business to 5 vans. At 5 vans the business would fully fund all monthly personal expenses, allow of expansion of the business which will, in the long run, allow for the NGO to financially support its own community efforts. The long term goal is to create financial independence for the organizations we partner with allowing the support we raise at F+W+S to go further.
-Accepted a proposal and business plan from another partner. This young woman has requested funding for a Bike Taxi business. We are working to secure funding to purchase her first motorbike and cover all additional startup cost. We are in need of $1,000 for this specific startup.
Plans for moving forward into 2021 :
-We want to continue to support all of the organizations and efforts listed above.
-We will continue to search for community partners to provide micro loans and provide for business startups. We feel very strongly that this is a critical element to the long-term success in supporting communities. By providing a path for financial security communities can end the cycle of poverty and need and care for themselves.
-We are looking into loading and sending shipping containers to Malawi. Our hope is to create a way to outfit the containers in a way that they can be used as a self sustaining structure to house a school, business, church, community center, medical center, etc.