Support UPO's Foster Grandparents Program

As we reported three months ago the Project Director of United Planning Organization’s nationally recognized Foster Grandparent Program was contacted by VOA Eurasia Division Voice of America to do a story on UPO’s Foster Grandparent Program for airing in Europe and Asia. The piece focuses on our work at DCPS and Eagle Academy.The video follows the Grandparents in the course of a day.

UPO is pleased to show the partnerships of community, schools and volunteers in shaping the educational experiences of children in the hardest to serve areas. We are putting a positive face on the African-American community in countries that don’t often get positive imagery of our experience in America.  Additionally the children featured will forever see themselves a part of a global community and international ambassadors – what a difference will it make in their young lives. The video is now currently being shown in Russian, Ukrainian and English.

Dear supporters of UPO’s Foster Grandparent Program we are so proud of our  200 low-income Washington DC senior volunteer Foster Grandparents who daily, weekly and monthly, provide critical mentoring and emotional support to District children in a variety of local settings. The program operates at 60 locations in the District of Columbia and includes early education centers, public and charter schools, before and after-school programs, youth programs and hospitals. Annually they put in more than 180,000 volunteer service hours – working one-on-one or in small groups mentoring more than 15,000 DC children.

When CBS recently began a series of stories on “A More Perfect Union,” the network was eager to shine a light on the love and learning at the heart of UPO’s Foster Grandparent Program. See the attached video clearly illustrating how our Foster Grandparent volunteers share their love working with the children in the classrooms.

You have all been generous donors, your funding helps us to cover the cost of training, materials, uniforms, and daily travel for our senior FGP volunteers enabling us to support them in their generous labor of love. In addition we have a waiting list of 100 seniors volunteering to be Foster Grandparents, 10 educational institutions are seeking to join the program and every current partnering volunteer site is requesting additional Foster Grandparents.

The timing could not be more perfect;                                          

GlobalGiving has announced one of its biggest Bonus Days ever  Thursday July 18, 2019 from 09:00:00 ET to 23:59:59 ET                with $250,000 in matching funds available during the campaign:

Donations of $100 - $499 will be matched at 15%                                   

Donations of $500 - $749 USD will be matched at 30%                       

Donations of $750 - $1,000 USD will be matched at 50%                  

A perfect opportunity to secure much needed funding to take UPO’s Foster Grandparents Program to the next level! Thank you for your continued generous support.

Links:

• Foster grandparents volunteer and share their love

Cheryl Christmas, Project Director of UPO’s Foster Grandparents Program, announced last week that approximately a month ago the UPO Foster Grandparent Program was contacted by VOA Eurasia Division Voice of America to do a story on the Foster Grandparent Program for airing in Europe and Asia.  The piece focuses on our work at DCPS Ann Beers – Grandma Sandra Woods and Eagle Academy – Grandpa Ronald Lewis.  The video follows the Grandparents in the course of a day.

UPO is pleased to show the partnerships of community, schools and volunteers in shaping the educational experiences of children in the hardest to serve areas.  We are putting a positive face on the African-American community in countries that don’t often get positive imagery of our experience in America.  Additionally the children featured will forever see themselves a part of a global community and international ambassadors – what difference will it make in their young lives….

See the first piece published in Russian and released on March 27, 2019 at the attached link.

As reported to you last month Ms. Christmas recently joined the Senior Corps Steering Committee of the Corporation for National & Community Service, the organization that runs the nationwide Foster Grandparent network. In a short space of time the excellence of UPO’s FGP has caught the attention of Voice of America, the largest U.S. international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content in more than 40 languages which it distributes to affiliate stations around the globe. It is primarily viewed by foreign audiences, so VOA programming has an influence on public opinion abroad regarding the United States and its leadership.

UPO's Foster Grandparents Program provides critical mentoring and tutoring services daily to DC children from birth to 21 years of age in a variety of local settings. Your support over the past 3 years has helped to cover the cost of training, materials, uniforms, and daily travel for more than 200 low-income DC senior volunteer FGPs. The program improves the long-term health and well-being of senior volunteers and circulates seventy cents of every program dollar into the local low-income DC communities that our volunteers and students reside. With a mission to Unite People with Opportunities, UPO's Foster Grandparents offer the right mix of academic acumen and nurturing and give much needed attention to over 15,000 low-income children in Washington, DC.

• We have a waiting list of 100 seniors to be FGPs
• 10 educational institutions seeking to join the program
• Every current partnering volunteer site requesting additional FGPs.

Your continuous generous donations, and the support of your family, friends and associates will help the UPO Foster Grandparents Program, nationally recognized, and now becoming internationally recognized, as one of the pacesetters in the field, meet all these additional needs.

Please Support UPO’s Foster Grandparents Program and share the news of the program’s success via social media and email.

Links:

• UPO Foster Grandparents at work in Russian