FOEF Newsletter

Money, Money, Money
Written By
an FOEF Child Sponsor

$50 a month. $600 a year. Ah…there are so many great things I can do with that amount of money. I could buy a Nintendo Wii complete with all of the accessories and even a few extra games. I could invest in a pair Christian Louboutin red-soled stilettos. I could even buy four bottles of my favorite wine each month for the next year! Like I said, there are just so many options…one more fabulous than the last.

Alas, I’ve decided to put that money towards a child sponsorship for Friends of El Faro. A child sponsorship surely won’t garner jealous glares from the ladies in the mall the way those Louboutin’s would. And, it certainly won’t make for a fun-filled Friday night the way the Wii preceded by a couple of glasses of wine would but it will give me a “different” sense of fulfillment.

I choose to look at my commitment as a child sponsor the same way I view my contributions to my retirement plan. It’s one of those things that I barely notice at the moment but it sure does feel good in the long run. I’d regret turning 60 years-old and not having that savings account waiting for me almost as much as I’d regret looking back on my years on this earth and knowing that I never contributed just a little bit of my hard-earned money towards saving a child’s life. But, that’s me.

When I look at my bank statement and I see how I went a little overboard at Nordstrom one week or how I over-indulged at that five star restaurant another, I always feel a sting of regret. On the contrary, never once have I seen my child sponsorship line item and thought, “Man, there are so many better things I could’ve done with that money!” That’s affirmation enough that I want to renew my child sponsorship again this year.

It’s that moment combined with the times that I visit Casa Hogar Sion and see the kids studying their lesson plans in the school books that I helped pay for. Or, teaching them how to tie their shoelaces on shoes that actually fit! The best though, is watching them take pleasure in eating a nutritious and wholesome meal three times a day. By the way, I hear growling stomachs far more infrequently now that we have 34 child sponsors committed to the cause. I can’t wait for the day when that grumbling sound is a distant memory.

What’s the lesson here? It’s not to deprive myself of the shopping sprees or fine dining experiences I so cherish in order to give more money to charity. One most certainly does not have to replace the other. On the contrary, I can continue to do both…but maybe I’ll consider trading in the Louboutin’s in for a pair of Kenneth Cole’s instead this year. That shouldn’t be TOO big a sacrifice!

For more information on sponsoring a child:
Download a brochure or email us with questions.