For this month’s Charity Spotlight, we’re featuring The Children’s Project International. We touched based with Program Director Ryan Steed, and he was kind enough to answer a few questions and give us some background on the organization. The Children’s Project is a US-based international non-governmental organization, and focuses on global child development, and turning impoverished children into future community leaders. They seek to inspire hope and provide children with life’s basic necessities, as well as foster their education and personal growth.

“Our mission is to leverage the social consciousness of America’s people to create opportunities for youth across the globe to escape poverty, lead productive lives, and bring lasting change to impoverished communities,” said Steed.

The organization was founded in 2009 by Austin, TX native Raj Luhar. While working for the U.S. Government, he had the opportunity to travel to many impoverished parts of the world, and saw firsthand the challenges people face. It was this experience that created the desire to leverage support of the American people to work towards improving the lives of children around the world. Since then, the group has grown to include members across the United States with programs and initiatives active in several countries across Asia and Africa. They also partner with several international organizations such as Fair Earth Foundation for Human Wellness, Good Shepherd Orphanage, and the AIMS Shamlaji Hospital.

Their initiatives include disaster relief, development aid, and facilitating dialogue with government, the private sector, and the public. Some of their recent efforts include assisting those affected by the floods in Pakistan, distributing food and clothing to millions of children around the world, and delivering medicine and medical supplies. Most recently, they advised the UN in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Outcome Document, which aims to end to poverty and hungry, provide universal education, and improving maternal health.

Please visit their site to learn more about their work and mission. You can also learn more about internships, and supporting their cause. A special thanks goes to Ryan Steed for giving us the opportunity to highlight their organization.