Giving Hope International Partners

Global Operations and Development
Giving Children Hope

Our primary partner is Global Operations and Development/ Giving Children Hope (GCH). Newly based in Buena Park, CA, GCH has been in operation for over ten years serving the needs of the poor and forgotten people both on the domestic and international fields.

The purpose of GCH, a private, not-for-profit, faith based, public benefit charity, is to improve the quality of life for children and communities domestically and internationally, with the emphasis on assisting children and refugees and upgrading hospitals, clinics, medical institutions and orphanages. GCH program and activities have progressed from initial crisis intervention to long-term development projects locally and in many nations around the globe.

Approximately 50 people including staff and volunteers run our international headquarters in California. We have domestic regional representatives in Florida and Kentucky and international offices in Tajikistan, Bosnia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Russia, and Serbia. In just this past year GCH outreach has included 20 countries around the world serving approximately 7.5 million people.

Domestically in our home base of Orange County, California, GCH is a significant distribution partner to major area ministries such as the Orange County Rescue Mission, Orange County Partnerships, and the Union Rescue Mission of Los Angeles. As Orange County's CAP organization, GCH procures, prepares and distributes most of the Gifts-in-Kind donations within the County. Working with area non-profits, we ensure that the poor and needy of the County receive equitable treatment from the charities, which serve them.

Our Food Distribution Program gives food and kitchen supplies to an average of 200 families per week at our Placentia location. Plans call for a major increase in this crucial area toward the end of 2002. With the acquisition of a freezer-container and walk-in coolers, GCH will provide for significantly more families on a weekly basis, as well as becoming a primary distributor for area non-profits and churches as part of their own food programs.

Our Hands of Hope (job training) and Box of Hope (relief package) programs minister to 180,000 adults and children through assistance, job training and preparation. Participants in the Hands of Hope program come from halfway houses and area recovery homes. The training and job opportunities play a significant role in their rehabilitation. The Box of Hope contains approximately $150-200 of hygiene in a convenient package to facilitate personal outreach to a charity's client base. One of our privileges was to be involved in the anniversary of 9-11 GCH by delivering 18 pallets of health, beauty, hygiene, first aid and nutritional product to help the victim's families in New York/ New Jersey.

On an average, 35 local ministries and organizations benefit from our toy donations at Christmas. We also partner with Head Start programs, aid to motel children, children's institutions, teen mom programs and food programs, to meet these local needs in the region.

Roughly 75% of all GCH activities are in the health care sector. Monthly we send approximately 3-4 40-foot containers worldwide filled with medical supplies and equipment. The provision of life-saving biomedical equipment is one of the cornerstones of our activities. At the same time we strive to keep our overhead administrative costs to an 'industry minimum' of .03% of our total income and Gift-in-Kind assets. Our objective is to strengthen existing (especially faith-based) NGO's and establish new local NGO's so that they might take over the ongoing programs and services.

A variety of fundraising methods support the work of GCH such as school drives, direct mail, media campaigns, and public speaking. GCH applies for funding from grants, along with being supported by donations from organizations and individuals who partner.

Other Partners

God's Girls International

An Orange County faith-based ministry designed to help girls grow in a club atmosphere of fun and service to their community. God's Girls develops relationships with area girls, particularly across ethnic and socio-economic barriers, and fosters understanding, spiritual maturity and mutual growth. GHI furnishes this agency with resources, including hygiene, make-up, food, and school supplies to help needy girls, develop new friendships and create new clubs for on-going relationships.

Cherish Life Designs

Based in Pasadena, this agency cares for terminally ill children and their families by creating a quilt keepsake, filled with pictures and memorabilia of the ill child's life. Through the creation of the quilt, Cherish Life Designs develops a relationship with the child and family, bringing hope a faith-based message of hope into difficult circumstances. The quilt serves as a comforting reminder of that hope, and is a long-lasting treasure for the family. GHI helps develop contacts for this ministry and provides several types of resources, such as computers and software, to help Cherish Life Designs create these loving memories.

Identify needs of patient and utilize GHI's network of organizations to assure patients' continued well being upon receiving medical help and/or returning home. Our volunteer medical team will be available to evaluate the patient's ongoing and/or specific short-term needs, and plan for care either by local medical professionals or volunteer GHI medical professionals, until patient has sufficiently recuperated and has returned to his/her normal activities.

Encourage and facilitate prevention as the best form of medicine and identify specific needs in each community where GHI supplies medical equipment and product to. The means of preventing health problems caused by general disregard and lack of services may include provision of clothing, food and cooking items, additional hygiene, first aid, vitamins and nutritional supplements, as well as conducting Health Seminars teaching hygiene, nutrition, first aid and CPR by volunteer health care professionals.