Orphan Buddy Initiative

To a child who has lost their family to violent conflict, having a grandparent figure tell them, “It’s going to be okay,” could make all the difference in the world.

 

The desired outcome of our Orphan Buddy initiative is to reduce social isolation among seniors in the U.S. while also providing much needed mentorship for children in conflict-riddled nations.

 

We plan to work with nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Northern Virginia. We are currently working in coordination with The Virginian  on this project. 

In the first month, it is our goal to enlist five senior citizens and five orphans in the program on a trial basis. We will provide low-cost and donated smart devices to both the senior citizens and the orphans. The volunteers in our program will act as chaperones to monitor the conversation between the orphans and the elderly. They will also serve as interpreters and tech support.

 

We are currently helping 36 Iraqi orphans put food on the table each month. But another 600 are in urgent need of support. We hope the Orphan Buddy program will be instrumental in bringing these children much needed food and supplies. The children we are helping this year are in Iraq, but we eventually plan to expand our program globally and help feed children elsewhere as well.

 

The members of our team have a proven track record of success. We have fed 1,730 families in Baghdad, 1,651 families in Mosul, and have sponsored the education of 762 refugee children in Jordan.

This fundraiser will help cover the cost of smart devices, communication software, food for the orphans, a team for policy development and the legal fees to help make the program happen.

See more about our organization at our website , janaproject.org