become a sponsor

Thank you for giving these children a chance. Unfortunately, many children around the world are suffering. With this project, we plan to help some kids in the world's poorest nation to have a better future. Read the information below and if you wish to help these children just fill out the sponsor registration form. You can find it by following the link at the bottom of the page. You can help in the following ways:
To sponsor a child is likely the most rewarding way to help. You will have a personal relationship to the child you are sponsoring and can follow up on progress and how he or she is doing. We will keep you informed. You can send letters, pictures and Christmas or birthday gifts and we will send you correspondence in return from the child you are helping. In time we hope to be able to communicate via e-mail as well. If you like, you are welcome to visit the center as well as volunteering time helping with various tasks. It would be an extraordinary experience. We will not demand that you continue to assist your child until they no longer need the center's assistance, but we hope that those who want to help in this way intend to do so. Your donation will provide a roof over the child's head, school, food, clothes and any medical attention that may be needed. Your help will make a significant difference in the child's life as you are ensuring they will have a future. Although it takes little to get a lot done in Sierra Leone, it is not free. The day-to-day operating costs are covered by the child sponsors, but it does not buy the necessary equipment or build a house for them to live in. For approximately $4000 US dollars we can get started with a rented house and buy equipment for 20 children. We will need beds and mattresses, pots and pans, tables and chairs etc. Every donation puts us closer to realizing our goal. If it is $5 or $500 we appreciate everything we get. Over the next couple of years, we hope to put away enough funds to build a center to house about 75 children. We will work hard to make that happen and hopefully we can count on you.................... Who doesn't have boxes upon boxes of old used clothes, shoes, toys etc. sitting in an attic or basement collecting dust? You can take them and give them a new life in Sierra Leone, either to be used within the orphanage or distributed to the needy in the local population. Things we can use are: Shoes, warm weather clothes, toys, sports equipment, books, school supplies, bedding, used electronics etc. If you have stuff you would like to send, go to the registration form below and we will contact you with information about what we currently need and how to send it to us. There are way you can help that are not very demanding on you time or hard on your wallet. Simply send a link to all your friends and family and ask them to take a look and pass it on again. The more people that become familiar with our activities the more likely we are to find people that would like to support. You can also download our poster shown on the left. Then print it out and hang it on bulletin boards around your community in stores, on mail box racks etc. Now that we have been up and running for some time we are looking into offering an opportunity to volunteer at the children's home in Hastings. If you are adventurous and want to see a different part of the world while doing some good for people in need this may be something for you. Please contact us an e-mail if this sounds like something you may be interested in. Send the mail to: info@first-step.org
NOTE! We are expecting to be approved as a "Non Profit" organization before the end of 2005. If we do we will issue tax credit receipts to all sponsors from Canada.
	EVERYONE ASSISTING US WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY ENTERED IN OUR LIST OF SPONSORS VIEWABLE BY ANYONE ON THE WEB. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE ENTERED ON THIS LIST CHECK THE BOX ON THE BOTTOM OF THE REGISTRATION FORM. INFORMATION ENTERED IN OUR LIST OF SPONSORS ARE: NAME, TOWN OR CITY, COUNTRY AND TYPE OF ASSISTANCE (NO $ AMOUNTS WILL BE DISCLOSED). ALL OTHER INFORMATION IS HELD IN STRICT CONFIDENCE. FOR BUSINESSES, WE WILL INCLUDE YOUR COMPANY LOGO WITH A LINK TO YOUR CORPORATE WEB SITE AS WELL AS YOUR FULL BUSINESS ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER. CHECK THE BOX ON THE BOTTOM IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE ENTERED ON OUR SPONSOR LIST.