Greater Phoenix's Networking Events Calendar

As a community we are blessed to have amazing charity organizations in the valley, which each make their own exceptional contributions to causes across the board. In anticipation of the WINGS annual luncheon this Sunday Feb 27th , I’m dedicating this blog to ChildHelp; one of the most acclaimed children’s charity organizations we have today. In order to understand the success and overall impact of ChildHelp you have to start from the beginning, which is an extraordinary story (and I love a good story!) so here you go...

The beginning of a lifetime of commitment to children started with two Hollywood actresses in 1959. Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, who after meeting on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Show, went on their own adventure to visit troops in Japan on a good will tour. It was on this tour that the pair ran into 11 homeless orphans on the street huddling together to keep warm. The ladies, unsure at that time what to do, brought the children back to their hotel room until they could find a proper orphanage for them. Unfortunately, the orphanages in Japan would not accept the children because of their mixed heritage of half –Japanese, half-American; the unwanted children born from American troops during the war.

Sara and Yvonne immediately began raising funds and support for Japanese-American children and over the next five years built four orphanages in Japan which cared for thousands of Japanese-American children… and they didn’t stop there.

After being invited to Washington to discuss similar issues with Vietnamese-American children in Vietnam, Sara and Yvonne established five orphanages, a hospital and a school for abandoned children in Vietnam as well as helping to arrange for thousands of children to be adopted in the states.

Sara and Yvonne’s philanthropic practices gained international attention and it was after a meeting with first lady Nancy Regan that the ladies turned their attention to “America’s Best Kept Secret”-child abuse,; where the ladies took on a new role in becoming some of the first advocates for child abuse prevention and treatment.

Fast forward to today…

Sara and Yvonne have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five years in a row. They were instrumental in designating April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month and signed the proclamation with President Carter in the Oval Office. Their publication “Silence Broken” was made into a Lifetime movie “For the love of a Child” that to date is one of the stations’ highly-rated movies. Sara and Yvonne have also established The National Child Abuse Registry and helped launch the Childhelp Alert System as well as the first mobile children's advocacy center in the United States, serving children in rural areas.

In nearly 50 years of operation, Childhelp Programs have helped over 4 million children and Sara and Yvonne are still at work.

There are many ways you can get involved with this charity. If you have a passion for making a difference and are looking for some good people to connect with in the valley then Childhelp is a great place to start. (Childhelp.org)

EVENT: This Sunday you can celebrate Childhelp with its WINGS luncheon. WINGS is a Childhelp program under the direction of Arizona resident, Carol Hebets, which engages families in philanthropic projects within their community. This Sunday Camelback Inn Resort will host WINGS Enchanted Forest Luncheon and Fashion Show to benefit Childhelp. This annual fundraising event will also have great prizes, give-aways and a kids and adults fashion show featuring the latest looks for spring. You can find all of the details on their website under “Events” or contact me and I will send you more information.

Thanks for reading!

JJ