A Charitable Retirement

Children stand with Ben Wilson in Vietnam.

DANANG, VIETNAM
Amazing, exhausting, and heart-warming: that's how I would describe my week visiting the programs conducted by Children of Vietnam (COV), the Children’s Culture Connection-represented charity that supports Vietnamese children in need.

Children of Vietnam, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, was started by a man named Ben Wilson as he was facing retirement after a long corporate career. According to Ben, he didn't play golf and was worried that he wouldn't have enough to do to keep busy. So, at 65 years old, he started COV.

After seeing how many ways his organization is impacting the lives of children in need, I can confidently say that Ben does NOT need to worry about being bored.

Birthday presents for kids in need

Six-year-old Mike, living in a shelter, thought only other people had birthdays. He had never celebrated one because his family could never afford it. Cheerful Givers was founded to make sure parents like Mike’s always have a gift to mark their child’s birthday.

While visiting a food shelf in 1994, Robin Maynard-Steele met distraught parents trying to find something special, like a box of cereal or a can of fruit, to give their children. Recognizing an unmet need, she founded Cheerful Givers to give parents living in poverty a helping hand. Since then, with one full-time staff member and volunteers nationwide, the organization has filled birthday bags for thousands of children. It will fill its 300,000th birthday gift bag on May 18.

Giving Back

Posted by Rhea Datta on June 4th 2009 in Organizations, Volunteers Edit



After most people travel to exotic destinations, they simply post pictures online and send thank you cards to their hosts. Not Heather Burkland. As a junior at Macalester College in 2002, Heather traveled to Cameroon to study for a semester. There she was overwhelmed by the generosity and hospitality shown by her host family and the communities she studied in. Despite meager resources and limited funds, all the Cameroonian people she met were eager to open their homes to the American students.

Heather met Michelle Wilson in the same program. The young women shared an observation — that there were not enough educational resources for Cameroonian youth to complete their academic aspirations.

Upon their return to the US, Heather and Michelle provided their host family and friends with financial support, but soon realized that in order to make a significant change for their friends they would have to spread their message. Opportunity Africa was born from their desire to increase their outreach. The nonprofit’s mission is to provide Cameroonian students from disadvantaged backgrounds with scholarships and other educational resources. Armed with a belief that education can open doors for a better understanding of family (and community) health and greater earning potential, Heather and Michelle created a forum where people can provide monetary support to deserving Cameroonian youth.