Frequently Asked Questions
- How much of my child sponsorship money goes toward the children?
- What sort of assistance does my sponsorship money give a child?
- Does DR only help Christian families and children?
- Does a child have to become a Christian to continue to receive support?
- How many sponsors does each child have?
- Are child sponsorship funds pooled?
- Is it possible that my child may leave the sponsorship program?
- What happens when my sponsor child graduates or leaves the program?
- What happens if I am late in giving my sponsorship?
- Does Destiny Rescue help more children than are currently being sponsored?
- Can I write to my sponsor child?
- Can I send gifts to my sponsor child?
- Can I visit my sponsor child?
- Can I share my rescued child's photo, name or where they live on social media, the internet, or any other publication or forum?
1. How much of my child sponsorship money goes toward the children?
We send 100% of child sponsorship funds overseas to help the children, families and communities within our program. All administration costs for our (Australian/USA offices) are covered through fundraisers and other donations.
2. What sort of assistance does my sponsorship money give a child?
Your sponsorship money helps a child in many different ways and varies depending on their needs. The most common forms of assistance include food, education, multivitamins, medical assistance, clothing, vocational training etc. And in some instances, children may also receive housing in one of our many rescue and prevention homes. Our child sponsorship program helps kids and families eventually become self-sufficient, which is our main goal.
3. Does DR only help Christian families and children?
No, a person’s faith has no bearing on whether help is given. In our program, we have children from many different religions including, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Animism and Christianity.
4. Does a child have to become a Christian to continue to receive support?
No, children are not required to become Christians to stay within the sponsorship program. Destiny Rescue is a Christian organization, and as such, does promote Christian values. However, we present our faith as a lifestyle of action and compassion, rather than just a belief. With that said, children are given opportunity to become Christians, but neither the children nor their families are under any compulsion to convert to Christianity.
5. How many sponsors does each child have?
A child can have one or several sponsors depending on whether the child lives within a family unit or within a Destiny Rescue home.
A child living with family requires much less financial support than a child would need if he or she lived in a Destiny Rescue home, and therefore, only needs one sponsor.
Children living within a Destiny Rescue home require much greater financial support from Destiny Rescue than those living with their own families. Destiny Rescue must provide all their daily needs in order for them to live, grow and eventually become self-supportive. Some of their expenses include rent, utilities, medical care, education, clothing, vocational training, transportation and paying staff wages (which include house parents, counselors, teachers, guards, investigation teams, cooks, cleaners, social workers, vocational trainers, etc...). Therefore, we use multiple sponsors to support an individual child living within Destiny Rescue’s care. We believe that keeping sponsorship at an affordable level for most people ultimately helps increase sponsorship support.
6. Are child sponsorship funds pooled?
Yes, all child sponsorship funds are pooled. We do this for many reasons…
- We’ve found that pooling funds with a set monthly budget is the most cost effective way to sponsor children. Otherwise, our head office has to contact each project manager on a monthly basis to confirm whether a specific child was helped in that given month. Valuable time and money are wasted trying to keep track of everything.
- Pooling funds is ideal for family situations. For example, when four children from the same family need sponsoring, but only one child has a committed donor, it isn’t right to let that one child eat while the rest suffer. Obviously, the assistance would be spread out equally to the other children in the family.
- Pooling funds is ideal for our children’s homes, as well. For similar reasons as above, it wouldn’t be fair to treat one child better than another, simply because one is fully sponsored and the other isn’t.
- Pooling funds allows Destiny Rescue to continue meeting the needs of children in our care, regardless if a sponsor is late on a support payment.
7. Is it possible that my child may leave the sponsorship program?
Yes, the risk of this happening is usually higher in certain programs. The two programs which have the highest number of children leave are our slum projects and rescue projects.
- Children in city slum projects. We have found that families that live in city slums are often more transient than others living in poor communities.
The reasons for them leaving a project area vary greatly. Sometimes parents hear of better job opportunities in other cities and leave the Destiny Rescue project area. Occasionally, children move to live with another family member outside the project area. And there are times that families get into debt with a vicious lender, and end up fleeing the city because they are unable to pay the debt back.
- Children in rescue projects. Children that have been rescued out of brothels and sexually exploitive situations are, in some circumstances, at high risk of leaving the program.
Destiny Rescue staff and counselors do their very best to reassure the girls that they’ve made the right decision. They also try to make conditions in our rescue homes as appealing as possible to encourage them to stay and take hold of the great opportunities made available to them. However, our rescue children come from extremely unstable backgrounds, which often cause them to make poor decisions.
Unless we’re given legal guardianship, Destiny Rescue can’t force a child to stay. Our staff makes sure that they know the door is always open to them should they decide to return in the future. And where possible, staff will try to maintain some level of contact with the children that leave. However, in the event a rescue child leaves our program, we will assign the sponsor a new child that needs the same loving care and opportunities.
Of course there are also positive reasons why a child might leave the program.
- The child graduates from their education and/or training and gets a job.
- The child progresses through the program until they are eventually re-integrated back into society.
- The child's family circumstances change and they are no longer in need of the financial assistance that DR sponsorship provides.
If your sponsor child leaves the program, you will be notified as soon as possible and will be given the photo and profile of a new sponsor child. There is often a delay in being notified due to our investigation team looking into the circumstance of the child’s departure.
8. What happens when my sponsor child graduates or leaves the program?
Destiny Rescue will contact you with a final update/photo and/or story about the circumstances/reason the child left. At this time, you will also be given the photo and profile information of a new child that you will be empowering to reach their God-given destiny.
9. What happens if I am late in giving my sponsorship?
If you’re late on your monthly support payment for any reason, your sponsor child will continue to receive assistance because our child sponsorship program pools its funds. Pooling our funds allows us to spread the resources out evenly among the children and families within our program, to ensure nobody is left hungry and greatest needs are being met. We would ask, however, that you bring your sponsorship up to date as soon as possible.
10. Does Destiny Rescue help more children than are currently being sponsored?
Yes, we are constantly coming across children that desperately need our help. And rather than turning our backs on these precious children and waiting until we can find a sponsor for them, we have chosen to take a step of faith, and do all that we can to help them from the moment they are enrolled into our child sponsorship program.
11. Can I write to my sponsor child?
Sponsors are encouraged to write to their sponsor child, however, we request that these letters be kept short to assist with translation. We would also prefer that all correspondence be sent via email, as the postal service in many countries we work in is not very reliable and can be quite expensive. Children, especially, love to receive photos of their sponsors, so please feel free to attach photos or drawings…etc., to your emails and send them to our office (usa@destinyrescue.org). Due to time and staff constraints, as well as the unfamiliarity that the majority of our children have with writing letters, we cannot guarantee a personal reply to your letters, unless it’s one of the bi-annual progress reports. Still, you can be assured that your child will receive your letters.
12. Can I send gifts to my sponsor child?
Yes, you are welcome to give birthday and/or Christmas gifts to your sponsor child. However, because of unreliable postal service and the expense of sending physical gifts, we would ask sponsors to simply give an additional monetary gift at that time. An appropriate gift will be bought for the child locally based on their current needs. A photograph of the child with their gift will then be sent to the sponsor. Please notify our office (usa@destinyrescue.org) in advance to inform them that you will be including an additional amount to your monthly contribution as a gift for your child. If you would like to send a short message to your child with the gift, please include it in the email you send to our office.
13. Can I visit my sponsor child?
If you would like to visit your sponsor child, we prefer you contact our office first to see if it’s even possible. A sponsor may or may not be able to visit his or her sponsor child depending on which country the child lives in. Not all countries are stable and would be high-risk areas to visit, not to mention, going there could also jeopardize our work in the country. Therefore, traveling to see your sponsor child depends on the circumstances within the specific country your child lives in. To find out if visiting your sponsor child is possible, contact our office (usa@destinyrescue.org).
14. Can I share my rescued child's photo, name or where they live on social media, the internet, or any other publication or forum?
PLEASE NOTE: The law in Cambodia insists that the photo, name or location of rescued children should not be published on social media, the internet or any other publication or forum. It is therefore essential, that if you are sharing your news about a child you are sponsoring, you do not include photos, names or locations. Thank you for your sensitivity and understanding in this important legal matter.
If your sponsor child is from a country in which we do rescue work, other than Cambodia, there is currently no law that states you cannot post photos or information about your child on the Internet, in publications, or other forums, such as his or her name or where he or she currently lives. However, we do ask that you be mindful of the safety and privacy of your sponsor child when using these mediums. If you are unsure about what is appropriate, you are welcome to contact us for more information. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.