Tag Archives: social media

World Water Day Tweet-Out Winners!

Posted on March 26, 2013 | Comments Off

Last week, to build awareness around World Water Day, ChildFund asked its social media supporters to take to Twitter and inform their followers on the issues of water insecurity for children around the world. Today, we’re excited to announce the winners of our World Water Day tweet-out and share the five most inspirational tweets. The top tweeter and four runners-up will receive water-related Gifts of Love & Hope sent in their honor.

#Water4Children

#Water4Children

Top Tweet:
Hockey Chick @ChicksDigHockey
Water is life. Clean water impacts health, happiness and intellect. @ChildFund can show you how to save lives. #Water4Children #GiftOfLife

@ChicksDigHockey will have a 1,000 liter water tank delivered in their honor to a family in Mexico (valued at $190).

Runners-up:
Confetti ❤ @confettilove_
No matter if the glass is 1/2 empty or full… it needs to be clean! #worldwaterday #Water4Children

WASHadvocates @WASHadvocates
#Children just like our kids, nieces, nephews, grandchildren do not have clean #water. Together we can help #Water4Children #WorldWaterDay

STARS Foundation @STARSFdn
It seems (clean) water is more than just the source of life; it’s the source of health, education and dignity too. #waterday #Water4Children

Aksel Kibar @TechCharts
While we drink bottled water, some children around the world don’t even have access to tap water. Let’s give #Water4Children

We will deliver an apple tree seedling and a watering can to five children in Ethiopia in honor of @confettilove_, @WASHadvocates, @STARSFdn, and @TechCharts.

Thank you to all those who participated! We appreciate your help in informing others on the critical necessity of clean water for children.

Comments Off

Posted in Twitter Campaign

Tagged , , , , ,

One Simple Thing You Can Do to Save a Child’s Life

Posted on April 25, 2012 | Comments Off

by Virginia Sowers, ChildFund Community Manager

It’s World Malaria Day. But instead of launching into a litany of statistics, I’ll just share one hard fact: a child is dying this very minute—every minute—from this disease. And that just shouldn’t be.

Malaria is preventable. Malaria is treatable.

“In the past 10 years, increased investment in malaria prevention and control has saved more than a million lives,” says Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization. “This is a tremendous achievement. But we are still far from achieving universal access to life-saving malaria interventions.”

So you may be asking, “What can I do as just one person?”

Buy an insecticide-treated mosquito net from ChildFund’s Gifts of Love & Hope for a child who doesn’t have one. And then ask your friends on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube to buy one, too. You may inspire a movement. At the very least, you’ll raise awareness.

A mosquito net costs $11. And you could be helping a child like 5-year-old Francis from Uganda.

boy with mosquito net

“In 2010, I received a mosquito net from ChildFund. Since then I have never fallen sick.”

Or, taking a worry off the shoulders of a mother like Margaret, who lives in Zambia.

mother and child

“It was very disheartening for me to watch my two-year-old daughter cry because of headaches and fevers. Sometimes she would completely lose her appetite.”

Just for today, World Malaria Day, I invite you to take a swing at the statistics. Use your social media clout to knock back malaria one child at a time.

Comments Off

Posted in World Malaria Day

Tagged , , , , ,

Thanks for Traveling Around the World With ChildFund

Posted on March 5, 2012 | Comments Off

by Virginia Sowers, ChildFund Community Manager

Facebook promotion bannerOur February Facebook promotion has concluded with seven winners, drawn randomly from the group of entrants who correctly identified all seven countries in our photo album.

Congratulations to ChildFund Facebook fans:

  • Jorge Bosch, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
  • Nittha Chutipongpisit, Bangkok, Thailand
  • Alina Grishina, Brooklyn, N.Y., USA
  • Anne Haylock, Harvey, WA, Australia
  • Selena Kessler, Springwater, N.Y., USA
  • Phuong Hoang Pham, Portage, Mich., USA
  • Jill Punches, Portland, Ore., USA

In honor of the seven winners, we’ve sent an educational gift (a school uniform and/or school supplies) to a child in each of the seven countries featured in the photo album.

You’ll find photos of the children on ChildFund’s Facebook page. Their stories are touching.

Anmol, which in Hindi means precious, is enrolled in St. Anthony’s Orphanage Project in New Delhi, India. She received a school supply kit.

Brenda attends a child-friendly school in the remote and rural Honduran community of Sabana Ronda. Her grade point average last year was 94 percent. She received a new uniform and shoes along with some school supplies, notebooks and materials for arts and crafts.

Keli, who participates in ChildFund’s U.S. programs in Oklahoma, received much-needed school supplies and arts and crafts items.

Thilan, enrolled in Lanka Taiwan Children’s Program in Sri Lanka, was the recipient of a new school uniform.

Elise, whose family was forced to flee armed conflict and relocate to Ziguinchor, Senegal, now has educational supplies her parents couldn’t afford.

Irene, who participates in Kenya’s Kerwa Child and Family program, loves her new school uniform. She attends in PCEA Ruthigiti Academy.

Jenipher, whose parents are subsistence farmers in Zambia, has never owned proper school shoes or a uniform until now. She comes from a family of four children, and the family was overjoyed to receive the gift for Jenipher.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Facebook promotion and for telling others about ChildFund’s work with children in 31 countries.

Comments Off

Posted in Facebook promotions

Tagged , , , , , ,

Tweet With ChildFund on International Women’s Day

Posted on March 5, 2012 | Comments Off

by Lee Steinour, Communications Assistant

Your tweets can help send a girl to school!

Starting today, March 5, and continuing through International Women’s Day on March 8 (5 p.m. EST), ChildFund is inviting its Twitter followers to tweet out on critical issues related to girls and women.

In developing countries, child marriage derails as many as 10 million girls a year from achieving their potential as women.

Lack of access to quality health care is another obstacle for girls and women who live in poverty.

And, in many countries, education for girls is a low priority or not available at all.

Girls in boarding school

Nanin'goi Girls' Primary and Boarding School, Mosiro, Kenya. Photo: Jake Lyell

At ChildFund, we believe the healthy development of girls is critical to breaking the cycle of poverty. When girls have a secure childhood, they grow up to be strong women who lead positive change in their communities.

To mark International Women’s Day, we’re asking ChildFund’s Twitter fans to help build awareness around issues critical to women by tweeting and retweeting posts.

Please use the hashtag #girls2women in each Twitter post. If we reach 200 tweets and retweets in four days, we’ll honor our Twitter followers by providing a one-year educational scholarship to a girl in one of ChildFund’s projects.

Invite your friends to get involved by retweeting your posts and creating their own woman- and girl-focused tweets.

Need help with tweet ideas?

How about answering the question: What does International Women’s Day mean to you?

Or, send out some of these suggested tweets:

  •  Secure girls become strong women #girls2women #IWD
  • An estimated 10 million girls are married annually before they reach 18 #girls2women #IWD
  • Girls under 15 are 5x more likely to die in childbirth than women in their 20s. #girls2women #IWD
  • Help a girl fulfill her dream of completing her education#girls2women #IWD
  • Ensure girls have the foundation to become future leaders #girls2women #IWD

Happy tweeting, and remember to use the #girls2women hashtag. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Comments Off

Posted in Twitter Campaign

Tagged , , ,

Winner of Facebook Promotion to Visit Uganda

Posted on August 8, 2011 | 3 Comments

by Virginia Sowers, ChildFund Community Manager

The chance to travel across the world to meet a sponsored child doesn’t happen all that often for ChildFund supporters. Most faithfully write letters and exchange photos with children and their families for years, but few have the chance to meet face to face.

David Levis of Citrus Heights, Calif., now has that opportunity.

photo of David and Stacie Levis

David and Stacie Levis

David is the grand prize winner of the Experience of a Lifetime promotion, that ran on ChildFund’s Facebook site this summer. He and his wife, Stacie, sponsor 13 children in ChildFund programs. Five of the children live in Uganda, which is where David, a California school teacher, plans to travel.

“ChildFund has become part of our family, even to the extent that our three young children have become involved in writing letters and saving change to go toward buying cows for some of our families,” David says. “This has changed their perspectives on the world.”

David’s trip with ChildFund to Uganda will take place next April over spring break. And it’s an experience he looks forward to bringing home to his family and students. “Seeing the five children we sponsor in Uganda will help me better understand the complexities faced by their families,” he says. “I plan to share this firsthand information to help teach my students about the importance of global citizenship, and how they too can look for ways to help people around the world.”

→ 3 Comments

Posted in ChildFund International

Tagged , , , , ,

We’re Giving One Facebook Fan the Experience of a Lifetime

Posted on May 31, 2011 | Comments Off

by Virginia Sowers, ChildFund Community Manager

We love sharing children’s photos, videos and stories on ChildFund’s social media sites, but we know there’s nothing like seeing the real thing.

Current sponsors and study tour participants who visit ChildFund projects around the globe return home with an expanded understanding of how poverty affects children and how one person truly can make a positive impact in a child’s life.

Inspired by their travels, they tell friends and colleagues about the experience and the work ChildFund is doing. And that helps bring new sponsors for children who are waiting.

Facebook image photoThat’s why we’re excited to launch a special promotion that begins on ChildFund’s Facebook site today and runs through June 30. One lucky winner will travel off the beaten path to see our programs in action. The four-day escorted tour will provide a firsthand view of how ChildFund is helping children around the world.

Wouldn’t you like to be the fan who wins the “Experience of a Lifetime” — a visit to see your sponsored child? Or, if you win and are not a sponsor, you’ll have a chance to tour a ChildFund program in the Americas, Africa or Asia.

Entry is easy: “Like” ChildFund on Facebook and complete a simple entry pass. You’ll also need 10 friends to “like” ChildFund on Facebook and support your quest by nominating you to win. Once you get the support of 10 friends, you’re officially entered. Every friend in addition to your first 10 earns you another entry in our random drawing. So the more friends you sign up, the greater your chances to make the finals! (Must be 18 and a U.S. resident of the lower 48 states to enter.)

You have until June 30 to complete your entry. Five finalists will be randomly selected. Each finalist will then prepare a short statement as to why he or she should win the trip.  We’ll then post those statements on Facebook, and one winner will be decided by popular vote.

Be sure to visit ChildFund’s Facebook page to enter the promotion. You could win the Experience of a Lifetime and make a difference in a child’s life!

Comments Off

Posted in ChildFund International

Tagged , , , , ,

Where’s ChildFund?

Posted on July 19, 2010 | Comments Off

Posters and billboards of ChildFund are popping up around the country. And we need your help in locating them.

The posters are showing up in malls and airports (one was spotted at LAX) and the billboards are currently in the Richmond, Va., area.

When you spot one, be sure to snap a photo of it. Even better, have someone take your picture standing beside the poster and upload it to our Facebook wall or Tweet us (@ChildFund) the photo link. Be among the first 100 people to send in a photo and get a ChildFund wristband.

Be sure to include your name and location. We’ll feature the “Where’s ChildFund?” photos on our social media sites to generate more discussion about the critical needs of children globally.

It’s all part of a public service campaign now under way to raise awareness of ChildFund and the work we do to change the lives of children living in poverty.

Will you help us make the world better for children? It can start with a simple photo to increase awareness of the work we do every day.

Comments Off

Posted in ChildFund International

Tagged , ,

A Child a Day Starts with You

Posted on July 6, 2010 | 1 Comment

by Virginia Sowers, Community Manager

Our child sponsors are an amazing group of globally focused citizens who make a huge difference in the lives of children they support through ChildFund. They are making positive things happen in families and communities every day by supporting children’s health, nutrition, education and well being.

Diego from Guatemala is awaiting a sponsor.

The truth is that we need more sponsors just like them.

Right now, more than 100,000 children live in areas where ChildFund works but lack a one-to-one relationship with a sponsor who writes to them and paves the way for a brighter future through financial and emotional support.

So starting this month, ChildFund is committing to working even harder to tell these children’s stories to people like you who want to take meaningful action. There is no better way to have a lasting impact on the future than to help a child escape the grip of poverty.

For the next several weeks, we’re going to take the ChildFund story to places like Chico and Redding, Calif.; Gainesville, Ft. Myers and Naples, Fla.; Providence, R.I.; New Bedford, Mass.; Rochester and Austin, Minn.; Mason City, Iowa; Albany, Schenectady and Troy, N.Y.; and Milwaukee, Wis.

If you live in these cities, or know someone who does, you’ll be discovering more about ChildFund through TV, radio and newspaper promotions. We’re also inviting a little friendly social media competition among people tweeting and posting on Facebook and blogs from these cities.

Wouldn’t it be terrific if your metropolitan area gained the highest number of new ChildFund sponsors by the time this campaign wraps up in September? Wouldn’t it be incredible to play a vital role in greatly reducing the number of children awaiting sponsors?

You can help make it happen by spreading the word about ChildFund’s One Child a Day campaign through Twitter, Facebook and blog posts and inviting members of your social networks to consider sponsoring a child at just $28 a month.

When tweeting, please be sure to use the Twitter hashtags we’ve developed to track the campaign in each metropolitan market:

  • Chico, Calif.: #1child4Chico
  • Redding, Calif.: #1child4Redding
  • Ft. Meyers, Fla.: #1child4FtMeyers
  • Gainesville, Fla.: #1child4Gainsville
  • Naples, Fla.: #1child4Naples
  • Austin, Minn.: #1child4AustinMN
  • Mason City, Iowa: #1child4MasonCity
  • New Bedford, Mass.: #1child4NewBed
  • Rochester, Minn: #1child4RochMN
  • Albany, N.Y.: #1child4Albany
  • Schenectady, N.Y.: #1child4Schenectady
  • Troy, N.Y.: #1child4Troy
  • Providence, R.I.: #1child4Providence
  • Milwaukee, Wis.: #1child4Milwaukee

Throughout the campaign, we’ll use this blog, Facebook and Twitter to provide fun facts about these great cities, answer frequently asked questions about child sponsorship and issue updates on our goal to welcome at least one new ChildFund sponsor a day from each of these metropolitan areas.

Will you help us get started? We need to spread the word that anyone can change the world — simply by helping one child at a time.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in ChildFund International

Tagged , , , , ,

Do You Know a Lionheart?

Posted on May 13, 2010 | Comments Off

by Virginia Sowers, ChildFund Community Manager

Like many children, I was captivated with the story of Robin Hood when I was younger. The whole idea of carrying out social justice — especially in unorthodox ways — was recklessly appealing.

So every time a new Robin Hood movie makes its way to theaters, I flash back to those childhood dreams of accomplishing good in daring ways.

Yet my excitement over the newest rendition, “Robin Hood: The Untold Story of How the Man Became a Legend,” stems from the social media outreach leading up to the film debut this Friday.

The Robin Hood Lionhearts cause-marketing campaign seeks to identify and recognize everyday Robin Hoods who make outstanding contributions to worthy causes — big or small.

I can think of several ChildFund supporters who would qualify. I bet you can, too.

Nominees set up online profiles, and seek votes for their cause of choice by tweeting and posting on Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

Universal will select three Grand Prize Lionhearts to each receive $5,000 plus $5,000 to share with a charity of their choice. Ten first prizes will be awarded, with $500 going to winners and an additional $500 to their cause of choice.

The consumer-powered ad network, Peer Squared,  provides another means for participants to help spread the word about the Lionhearts program — and earn rewards that can be shared back to charity partners.

I think Robin Hood would like social media.

Comments Off

Posted in ChildFund International

Tagged , , ,

Fighting Malaria in the Social Media Age

Posted on April 21, 2010 | Comments Off

by Virginia Sowers
ChildFund Community Manager

As the social media minder at ChildFund, it’s continuously fascinating to engage in—and learn from—social actions that come to life via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and result in a degree of change in the world.

As we lead up to World Malaria Day, Sunday, April 25, we have an opportunity to watch social media do what it does best—motivate people to act.

Last month, Ray Chambers, the United Nations Special Envoy for Malaria, announced the formation of a Social Media Envoy group in support of malaria control. Now that’s a desirable title — social media envoy.

“In our efforts to reach the Secretary-General’s 2010 goal of universal bed net coverage, and to reach the longer term goal of near-zero deaths from malaria by 2015, it is critical that acceleration continue in the malaria control movement,” he said.

The social media envoys plan to take one social action, such as a tweet or a Facebook wall post, in support of malaria control at least once a month over the next year. Their first organized social action is set for Sunday.

The envoys include a mix of celebrities, news personalities and social media gurus such as Anderson Cooper, Arianna Huffington, Larry King, Alyssa Milano, Peter Cashmore (founder of Mashable), Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker, Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter), Randi Zuckerman (Facebook’s director of marketing) and Sarah Brown (of number 10 Downing Street).

I’ve set up the full list on Twitter. You’ll find Randi Zuckerman at www.facebook.com/Randi.

I invite you to follow this unfolding story via social media—better still, engage in the conversation and take action to help children in Sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 90 percent of malaria deaths occur.

I’ll be blogging again later in the week about ChildFund’s work in malaria prevention and treatment. And I’ll be ChildFund’s own social media envoy on Twitter.

Comments Off

Posted in ChildFund International, World Malaria Day

Tagged , , , ,