Special money donations can also be directed to a sponsored child and their family for specific purposes such as birthdays, educational needs, housing repairs, and medical requirements. In the fiscal year 2021-2022, Chalice supporters gave $1,746,241.77 to their child or elder. In 2020-2021, Chalice sent $1,314,892 in Special Money to our sites. These donations from sponsors are also deposited directly into families' bank accounts. For donations above $500, notification is required to provide time for the family to prepare a budget on how their special gift will be used.
Christmas money donations are sent to sites to pay for a Christmas celebration for the community. Many sites were glad that some public health restrictions had eased, allowing them to have in-person celebrations once again.

A few examples of the ways our sponsor site shared their Christmas funds in 2021

At the Neema site in Songea, Tanzania
In our Neema sponsor site in Tanzania, the staff and families used the Christmas Fund to spread Christmas cheer to the entire community. As a part of this years’ Christmas celebration, they visited a local prison bearing gifts of gumboots and personal hygiene products. They called their gifts “The Bags of Love.”  Back at the Neema sponsor site, the sponsored children, their parents, and elders from the community sat down for a “sumptuous meal.”  The children also received “Bags of Love” with special and practical gifts of umbrellas, mosquito nets and sandals. “It was a wonderful Merry Christmas and joyful celebration” writes Sr Mary-Grace, Neema site director.  “Dear Sponsors, we thank you for making this Christmas day a memorable one for the children, families, the elderly, and those in prison.”

At our Mangalagiri site in India
The children in our Mangalagiri, India, sponsor site always look forward to their annual gathering. They wear new clothes and Christmas caps, share little gifts among themselves, dance, and share a meal. The family circles could not exclude the vulnerable in their communities. The 34 family circles shared items such as dry foods, bedsheets, sarees, blankets, dresses, sweaters, and notebooks with 260 their  neighbours in need. Everyone received food and 100 were invited to a special meal. One family circle supported a sponsored family whose breadwinner had become paralyzed with a supply of dry goods for two months. “We are grateful to all the donors who contributed so generously for our sponsored families to celebrate Christmas in a meaningful way,” writes Sr Maria Rose, site director.

Read our 2021 Christmas Fund Impact Report

Chalice's main sponsorship model is Family Funding. Over the last few years, Chalice has been moving away from our older benefit disribution model in which the decision-making process wassponsorship by the numbers202021 controlled at the sponsor site level. As each family is unique, so are their needs and the Family Funding model supports guardians of sponsored children in order that they can be the main decision-makers in budgeting and spending Chalice sponsorship funds within their family. The key to Family Funding's success is that every month, the sponsored child's guardian meets with their Family Circle (a small community group comprised of other guardians and a Chalice field worker). Each member of the group shares their budget for the upcoming month and reports back to the group on their expenditures for the previous month. Another feature of Family Funding is that every family now has their own bank account where sponsorship funds are deposited. Even though Family Funding is very different from the benefit distribution model, it's still a requirement that expenses related to the sponsored child's education be given top priority.

sponsorshipprojectionsOur Family Circles have many benefits. Since peer members hold each other to a high standard, there's an increased level of accountability. The members get to know each other on a personal level, building a sense of friendship and community. An experienced and engaged circle group member can also provide knowledge, skills, and confidence to new families so that they can lift themselves out of extreme poverty. In addition to the knowledge and skills that group members acquire from each other, formal training is also delivered by professionals and site staff on a range of topics, including financial literacy. Some Chalice sites also have programming for elders. There are modifications to the focus of the programming to meet their specific needs. In many cases, the sponsored elders are cared for by Family Circles in their proximity.

2022-2023 at a glance

*Annual Report
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