Numbers

I spend some time each evening looking through the waiting children listings on Reece's Rainbow - checking to see who is a zero no more. I usually just look at the older children, obviously, but today I started to look at the younger children, aged 0-5. The difference in the sizes of the grants is amazing - a few dollars in most of the older kids grants - thousands in the younger kids grants. Which I'm not complaining about - it's wonderful that those children have that much !! It just saddens me to see how little the older children have - especially knowing that some of them are in their teens and close to being unadoptable. Knowing they'll spend their lives in institutions, or worse. I believe the children with HIV age out of their orphanages and are left to fend for themselves, probably living on the streets as best they can. These kids deserve SO much more, and it's so sad to know that the only thing between them and a wonderful family life is money. So wrong, but so true.

To put into perspective the differences in grants on Reece's Rainbow between the younger (0-5) and older (6+) children - for the younger age group, there are 310 children listed who have donation buttons (76 are waiting for more information before they can accept donations). Out of that 310 - 42 of them have zero in their account.

Now look at the older children - 283 listed, with 241 with donation buttons. How many zeros ? More than HALF - 138 children in the older age groups have absolutely nothing in their grants. Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nil.

Sad. What can we do ? If I could, I'd donate to every single child and get rid of every single zero. If I could, I'd donate so much that every single child is fully funded. If I could....but I can't. I give what I can, when I can. All I can do is ask for help - for a few dollars here, a few dollars there - it really doesn't take much, if you think about it. I'm NOT asking anyone to fully fund a child - that's just crazy. All I ask is that we get rid of all the zeros in the older age groups. Go to Reece's Rainbow, look at the waiting children in the 6-9 and 10+ age groups, and look at the faces. Read their stories. Imagine your child living without a family forever. Give a little. Help save a life. Skip your morning coffee, give that money to one of the listed children. It's easy.