Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2008
LOCAL
RESIDENTS INVITED TO BENEFIT FOR AIDS ORPHANS IN AFRICA
Opportunity
To "Ignite Hope" For Children At Star-Studded May 16 Gala
Tess Batten
knows she can't help all 20 million children in Africa who will be orphaned by
the AIDS epidemic by 2010. But the volunteer for Claremont-based KidCare International
is helping as many as she can.
"When
I went to South Africa and saw the conditions there, my heart was just broken" the
Upland resident said. "The children in Africa, the orphans, are going through
a total loss of identity. Their parents are gone and a lot of them have been
on the streets, digging in the garbage for food. We have been taking them to
our orphanages. These good people down there are partnering with us to help feed
and care for those children."
As a way to
ignite hope among desperately disadvantaged children, KidCare International is
inviting residents of the greater Los Angeles area to attend a benefit on Friday,
May 16 to raise funds for a variety of programs that will provide help for AIDS
orphans in Africa and poor children locally and in Russia, Mexico, Kosovo and
India.
The "Ignite
Hope" fundraising gala, dinner and silent auction will be held on Friday,
May 16 from 7-10 p.m. in the ballroom at the Doubletree Hotel, 555 W. Foothill
Blvd. in Claremont. Silent Auction beginning at 6.
The event
will feature singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard, a featured performer on the "Ally
McBeal" television show; actress Melody Rogers of "2 on the Town";
and Ted Chen, co-anchor of weekend editions of "Today in L.A." and
a reporter for Channel 4 News.
"The
goal of this event is to expose the mission and goals of KidCare International
to people who are interested in impacting the world in a positive way - who want
to help the kids who are suffering the long-term results of the AIDS pandemic," said
Larry Kapchinsky, founder of the nonprofit humanitarian organization registered
with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
"We want
to have a good time and show people what they can do to make a difference, how
to get involved and how they are needed. When numbers of people come together,
there is a great deal of synergy that comes out of teamwork. And teamwork really
is the secret to it - of everybody doing something. We can turn the continent
of Africa around if everybody will do something. It's going to take time, but
we can do it."
The event
will include a silent auction featuring prizes such as round-trip tickets for
a weekend at a bed-and-breakfast in Vermont, a 42-inch flat screen television
and many others donated by local businesses. A video featuring the work volunteers
for KidCare International perform will be shown.
"It shows
what KidCare does to impact the lives of desperately disadvantaged children," Kapchinsky
said. "It shows what we are doing on the continent of Africa to provide
food, clothing, medicine and education for children."
Funds raised
by ticket sales and the silent auction will go toward funding KidCare International
programs both locally and internationally that provide food, shelter, educational
materials and medical attention to children who are in desperate need.
KidCare funds
nine different programs. These include Food for Hunger, feeding children daily
worldwide; Humanitarian Aid, responding to disasters with relief supplies; Orphanage
Outreach, providing food, shelter and educational opportunities for orphans in
South Africa, Tanzania and Russia; an after-school enrichment and mentoring program
for local underprivileged children; Sponsor a Child, bringing sustainable
resources for children in Africa; KidPaks, providing backpacks filled with toys,
hygiene items and clothing to needy children; Promise for African Literacy, providing
textbooks and food to school children in Africa; Treasured Daughter, an HIV/AIDS
prevention and self-esteem programs for young women ages 15-24; and HIV/AIDS
Shelter, clinic, nursery and pre-school for women and their children with HIV
and AIDS in South Africa.
Those businesses
and individuals who would like to sponsor KidCare and help underwrite the gala
are offered a variety of opportunities. This includes a $2,000 platinum sponsorship
for 10 dinner tickets, featuring an invitation to a private reception with the
guest celebrities and recognition as a platinum sponsor by the master of ceremonies
with the company name on all printed materials, programs, press releases, annual
reports and the KidCare Web site. Similar recognition is offered through the
$1,500 gold sponsorship for eight dinner tickets; the $1,000 silver sponsorship
for five dinner tickets and the $500 bronze sponsorship for four dinner tickets.
For more information
about the event or to purchase tickets or sponsorships, call 909-624-6101 or
log onto the Web site at www.kidcare.org.
The tickets are $50 per person.
The Arusha Times, June 17-23, 2006
US Volunteers visit local orphanages - A group of seven officials and
volunteers from KidCare International, a humanitarian relief organization
that strives to make a lasting difference in the quality of life for children
especially orphans in the global community, last week visited orphanages
in Arusha City and Arumeru District.
The group from California, USA started the visit on the 7th ending on
the 10th of June. The officials included the President Pastor Larry Kapchinsky
who first visited Chiswea center in December last year. Two of the volunteers
shared with the street children their life experiences. They told the street
children at Chiswea center that they had also gone through the life being
experienced by the kids but by God's grace they were able to come out of
that kind of life. They urged the street children to do away with street
life and drugs and accept to live in orphanage centers where they will be
rehabilitated. They came with 15 large sport bags full of children clothes,
shoes and toys and have donated them to five (5) orphanages centers, Chiswea,
Samaritan Village, Shalom, CCF, and Green Hope for children. Also, they
had an opportunity to share their experience with the staff of the orphanages
as well as gather more information of which is required by the centers in
order to enable them to realize their mission and vision. On the 9th of
June they visited Mto-wa-Mbu Primary School in Monduli District where they
donated textbooks and food subsides under one of their programs known as
PAL - Promise for African Literacy whose aim is to bring books and bread
to African children.
The Arusha Times , May 27 - June 2, 2006
KidCare International supports Chiswea Center - Chiswea a voluntary,
non-Governmental Organization dedicated to improve the lives of children
living in difficult circumstances in Arusha municipality has been granted
a three year endowment for food worth US $300 per month by a nonprofit organization
known as KidCare International of the United States of America (USA). KidCare
International is a humanitarian relief organization that strives to make
a lasting difference in the quality of life for orphans and desperately
disadvantaged children in the global community. It launched its support
in Arusha in March 2006 after Ellans Tanzania Limited, Books and Educational
Materials Suppliers Director Mr. Stephano Ole-Teveli visited the home early
this year. KidCare International's three officials including the President
Pastor Larry Kapchinsky visited the center in December last year and were
briefed on the activities of the center. The budget for the center was Ths.
120,000/=per month for 30 children. KidCare in February 2006 agreed to supplement
the food budget by providing US $300 per month in a form of monthly food
baskets delivered by a KidCare International representative Stephano Ole-Teveli.
KCI assistance came in March 2006 in the form of KidPaks full of clothes
and monthly food baskets. The assistance helped to improve the weekly food
menu and now the center's children are eating a balanced diet and having
three meals in a day. Earlier the center catered one meal a day. Apart from
assisting the Chiswea Center, KCI is in collaboration with Promise for African
Literacy (PAL) of USA which supports two schools in Africa: one in South
Africa called Isiphiwo Primary School and the other one in Tanzania, Arusha
called Mto-wa-Mbu Primary School. Both schools are supplied with textbooks
and lunch for students.
KidCare International to Aid in Tsunami Disaster Relief - January 5,
2005
Claremont, California; On January 3, a team from KidCare International
left for Colombo, Sri Lanka with donations for water, food, and hygiene
supplies in response to the tsunami disaster in South East Asia. The
team was comprised of KidCare founder Larry Kapchinsky, Kelvin Moore from
San Antonio Hospital in Upland, CA, and KidCare board member, Regan Schmalz. KidCare
International is a Not-for-Profit humanitarian relief organization based
in Claremont, California. On December 26 an earthquake
with a magnitude of 9.0 triggered huge waves of water wiping out villages
and towns along a broad stretch of coastland near the Indian Ocean. The
quake struck about 7 a.m. Sunday (midnight GMT Saturday), according to the
US Geological Survey's National Earthquake Center. In Sri Lanka,
1,000 miles west of the epicenter, an estimated 1 million people were forced
from their homes and are housed in 789 relief centers. The Sri Lankan government
cautioned that the island's current death toll of 30,196 was not likely
to be the final figure. There are areas where huge rubble piles are yet
to be removed, mainly in the east, the worst affected. Sri Lankan
friends of KidCare International who presently live in Claremont, California
still have family and friends in Colombo, Sri Lanka who have been affected
by the tsunami's team firsthand insight in how to best respond to orphans,
suffering children, and their families. KidCare International has
a specific Tsunami Relief Fund solely directed to help
children and their families affected by the tsunami.
