Embrace The Children

 Changing the lives and futures of children in hopeless and often fatal circumstances.

Help for Hurricane Katrina .......By Leslie Edstrom

Some of you may remember a promise ETC made to our donors regarding help for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.  We promised to do SOMETHING.  As a Board, we all strongly felt the need to wait until there was an unmet need.  During the course of the past year, we contacted Camp Algonquin and The Elgin Mental Health Center.  Both sights hosted victims of the Hurricane.  Both Directors assured ETC that not only were they well supplied, but they would continue to be that way for the duration. 

Unbelievably, Leslie Edstrom received a flier from her daughter’s school, Mackeben Elementary, reporting that a Distribution Center in Ocean Springs, Mississippi was struggling to provide food for approximately 200-300 Katrina victims each day. Mackeben was accepting donations and driving them directly to the distribution center in need.  Leslie presented the information to the Board, which unanimously decided to contribute $500 of baby formula to the distribution center. (continued page 2)   er seen anything so beautiful!. “Mommy, is it really for me?” It was like a wonderful dream and a blessing they did not expect.  

In addition to the formula donation from ETC, Leslie contacted Camp Algonquin and they sent their surplus of food to the distribution center as well.  It is really important to all of us on the Board that we use your generous donations in a way that you would approve.  We hope our response to the Katrina victims meets and/or exceeds your expectations.

Embrace has a strong sense of fiscal responsibility. Our first responsibility is to our donors, and then to our partners and recipients.  As part of this, we are carefully tracking the underwritten costs for the organization.  We are very fortunate to have extremely talented and credentialed volunteers working regularly for ETC at no charge to us.  For 2006, Embrace has already benefited from over 435 hours in donated time which converts to approximately $21,425.00 in saved salary or consulting fees. 

Working to provide tangible humanitarian aid as well as funds,  Embrace has supplied over 781lbs. of donations such as medication, medical supplies,  clothing, baby formula, school supplies, and shoes.  Many of these donations were provided by Embrace supporters and total over $13, 415.00 !! 

Embrace continues to have all administrative costs underwritten such as our telephone, office, website, PR materials, printing & development of the newsletter, and much of our postage.

Defining our Program Allocations

Embrace provides these programs: 

• Orphanage Outreach: serves abandoned children living in a group setting. 

• Keeping Kids Home:  assists in keeping families at risk for abandoning their children intact through food pantries and individual sponsorship.

• Cures for Kids:  provides medication and medical supplies to needy children.

• Humanitarian Aid:  provides basic life necessities to destitute children.

• Emergency Reserve Fund is for the emergencies of our recipients.

• Budget Reserve is unallocated funding which provides a buffer throughout the year.

• Fall Dinner Reserve allows Embrace to reserve our hall for the annual event.

Any remaining income at the end of each fiscal year is  faithfully distributed to our recipients.  (Completed tax records are available for review on request.) 

Jack DeLoss Taylor Trust  Awards Grant to ETC.......Sept 2006

The Board of Embrace the Children is honored to announce the award of a $1,000 grant to our Keeping Kids Home Program made by the Jack Taylor DeLoss Charitable Trust.  We are deeply honored by the opportunity to act as a vessel of generosity for Mr. Jack DeLoss Taylor.  We believe assisting mothers to provide for their children and prevent their abandonment  to an orphanage will most certainly be in the spirit of the humanitarian legacy forged by Mr. Taylor DeLoss. 

The gift has already been distributed to our partners in Russia allowing them to add more families to their monthly visits.  During these visits, mothers will receive a food package, medication, sanitary supplies and a gift of new clothing for the children.  Thank you so very much to the members of the Trust.

By Shannon Mogilinski

No one knew that a phone call one blustery day in October of 2002 would become a catalyst for hope to forgotten children.  The awful truth that 60 orphans were living in extreme cold with no heat or hot water was hard to hear.  From that day forward, the loyal supporters of this work have been in action.  Their tremendous dedication founded Embrace The Children.  We would like to share with you a small glimpse of these efforts over the last three years.

• May of 2002 purchased two new sinks and one new toilet for one needy orphanage

• $1400 replaced a broken boiler system in providing heat and hot water to children who had none.

• Repaired broken clothes dryer so the staff no longer had to hang children’s wet clothing on the building pipes.

• Supplied hundreds of pounds of clothing and toys.

• 2003 held our first meeting on Feb. 26.  A Board was formed.  By-Laws created.

• Incorporated on May 9 filing to receive our  fiscal year recognition, federal EIN, 501 c 3 status, registered with the IL Attorney General, and registered with Kane county.

• Opened a bank account.

• Created our Board informational books extensively setting the parameters for the organization.

• Created letter head and a logo. 

• Designed names and program tracks for our efforts.  Wrote our first brochure.

• Created marketing materials on our programs.

• Put together and pulled off our first fundraiser in 6 weeks with over 100 people in attendance.

• 2004 began our technology boon creating and hosting our own website, email and file sharing.

• Established a database to track donors and donations.

• Gained credibility and saw new supporters ranging from individuals, to businesses, to cash contributions—St. Katherine’s School, Lincoln School, Fujisawa, All bout Children Pediatrics, Card & Camera, Dr. Miller, Alcon, Zimmerman Ford, Chicago Board of Trade,  just to name a few..

• Added significantly to our volunteers at large.

• Began stabilizing some of the medical needs in Russia by purchasing and delivering medications creating a dramatic drop in urgent needs.

• Forged new ground by breaking the cycle of abandonment with the establishment of  Keeping Kids Home—thus adding a fourth program to our efforts.

• Assisted in creating contacts for two Elgin women to fly to Russia helping establish a first-ever hotline for abused women and their children.

• Assisted Rebecca Ruggles in visiting our Russian programs meanwhile administering over $5,000 in donations almost all of which went to ETC programs.

• Began raising funds for the Tsunami disaster.

• Created Humanitarian Aid collection and distribution policies.  Added two volunteers to this service work.

• Graciously given a donated storage unit and then another in 2005.

• Purchased and distributed thousands of vitamins all over Russia and Guatemala.

• Planned and executed a second fundraiser—The Silver Screen—with great success.

• Offered donors a direct, no-service-fee alternative to get their entire donation to needy children.

• In 2005, helped a little girl’s mother stabilize her seizures providing funds for her medical assistance.

•  Established a great connection with a Guatemalan orphanage.

• Helped a little boy breathe replacing an old plastic bottle with an Areochamber for his asthma medication.

• For the second year, we fed and kept 12 children out of the orphanage making sure their mother’s had something to give them for Christmas.

• Donated Nebulizers to a hospital and Guatemalan orphanage.  Helped purchase a much-needed van.

• Fed destitute grandmothers and children through the milk kitchen.

• Donated $3001 to We Love Thailand for Tsunami disaster relief.

• Provided medication for 5 orphanages in the hardest parts of Russian winter and year-round in Guatemala.

• Helped one orphanage director keep the faith by funding a computer lab to give his children a better future.

• Recruited and planned first team of travelers to Russia and saw them deliver 480 lbs of clothing, meds, and crafts.

• Rose to the challenge of assisting an orphanage with HIV children.

• Seized an opportunity to help an incredibly destitute village provide for their children in Mexico.

• Held our first forum to listen to and recognize the core donors of ETC.

• Completed three newsletters and one annual report. plus pages of required legal documentation.

• Met personally with Cliff from Guatemala and Jeanne from Russia.

• Developed a thorough finance tracking format and new finance policies.

• Carried out five separate financial collections for ETC.

• Met with new prospective recipients of Embrace support; attended 3 marketing events.

• Planned and executed yet another fundraiser—The Cattle Baron’s Ball—with fantastic results.

Through it all…

• we have transitioned through 7 board member changes...

• held over 70 meetings and activities... 

• Prepared, inventoried, shipped, and delivered 32 Humanitarian Aid packages equaling over 2,045 lbs in aid. 

• Our income for 2003 was $10,922.46...

• For 2004, it was $31,521.19…

• And, for 2005 it was $32,362.54... 

• Our volunteers hours are in the thousands and our underwritten expenses in the tens of thousands.

  Most importantly, our donors reached the destitute children we passionately wanted to help back in 2002 and their hand has been Embrace...