Chalice's main sponsorship model is Direct Family Funding (DFF). In the 2018-2019 fiscal year Chalice sent $18,099,433 in sponsorship funds to our sites, which is about 70.8% of total funds sent. Over the last few years, Chalice has been moving away from our older benefit disribution model in which the decision-making process was controlled at the sponsor site level. As each family is unique, so are their needs and the DFF 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 DFF'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 DFF is that every family now has their own bank account where sponsorship funds are deposited. Even though DFF 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.

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.

Christmas money donations are sent to sites to pay for a Christmas celebration for the community. In the 2018-2019 fiscal year Chalice sent $546,334 in funding to our sites, which is about 2.1% of total funds sent.

Some sites provide a traditional meal with children performing plays, music, and providing other entertainment. Others provide a food hamper for each family and/or a gift for every child. In Ukraine sponsored children wrap and deliver gifts to unsponsored children and food baskets to infirm seniors. Read the Christmas Fund Impact Report for 2018.

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 2018-2019 fiscal year Chalice sent $877,868 in funding to our sites, which is about 3.4% of total funds sent. 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.

Charitable donations in the form of grant funding can be directed to one of our Chalice sponsor sites, an individual sponsored child or sponsor child's family. This type of charitable gift can be directed without a specific purpose as a general grant or a purpose driven grant. In the 2018-2019 fiscal year Chalice sent $289,060 in funding to our sites, which is about 1.1% of total funds sent.

A general grant can be gifted to a sponsor site, sponsored child, or sponsored child's family to be used as deemed best by the recipient in order to supplement their income, operating or programming expenses. An example of a general grant could be a grant directed to a sponsor site who uses it to enhance an after-school program or offset transportation costs incurred when transporting special needs children to appointments or off-site events.

A purpose driven grant can be gifted to a sponsor site, sponsor child or sponsored child's family to be used for a previously agreed upon purpose. In most cases a purpose driven grant is a direct result of a previously prepared budget.

An example of this is a grant directed to the sponsor site for the sole purpose of purchasing a braille printer to be used by blind children at the site. A purpose driven grant directed to a specific child may be to fulfill an opportunity for post-secondary education and a purpose driven grant to a sponsor child's family may be directed in response to a budget prepared to replace the dilapidated roof of their family home.

Grant donations ensure the success of school gardens

With grant donations totalling $5,621 our Baraka site in Kenya Muthaiga Primary School was able to build a water well and irrigation kits for school gardens.

Located on a 10-acre piece of land outside of Nanyuki Township, near the sprawling slum settlement is Muthaiga School - a public primary school. With over 500 students (52 sponsored) mainly from the slum area; many of the children come from poor families where hunger is common. Hunger negatively impacts children’s performance and behavior while at school. Our site networked with the teachers and parents to establish a school garden for growing food crops to feed the children. Grant funds were used to outfit a water dam in the school to harvest and conserve rain runoff to water the gardens when the rains are inadequate. The irrigated open ground was used to grow cereals, while tomatoes and vegetables were grown in a greenhouse.

Our Chalice Children Nutrition Program supports activities that promote and improve nutritional health for children (both sponsored and non-sponsored) in sponsor site communities in Central and South America, Haiti, Africa, and Philippines. In the 2018-2019 fiscal year Chalice sent $334,068 in funding to participating sites, which is about 1.3% of total funds sent. Programs include both feeding and educational components and most are supported by a nutritionist, either at the site or the regional office level. To ensure each program addresses the unique needs of the community, the program is flexible and allows for many different designs.

Many sites are participating in the Chalice Children Nutrition Programs. Examples of programs include support to soup kitchens, school feeding programs, distribution of food baskets, community and school gardens, provision of nutritional supplements, deworming, and training of children, parents, and elders on topics related to nutritional health.

When sites are faced with an extreme or critical situation that is urgent, they may apply for Critical Needs funding. Critical Needs are categorized into three main groups and are used to provide immediate support to individuals or families facing the following types of crises:
1) Grave conditions for which urgent action is required and which, if not urgently addressed, will endanger the life of the individual(s) concerned (e.g. hospitalization and treatment for serious injuries sustained in an accident).
2) Chronic, serious, and/or congenital medical conditions that negatively impact an individual's health and/or quality of life (e.g. corrective surgery required for a child born with cleft palate).
3) Extreme emergency situations that threaten the well-being of a family (e.g. rebuilding a family home that was destroyed in a fire).

In the 2018-2019 fiscal year Chalice sent $185,964 in funding to our sites, which is about 0.7% of total funds sent.

Critical Needs projects in 2018-2019 included:

INV1019 - Five year old Harichandana (Hari) a sponsored girl from our Nellore sponsor site in India was born with a congenital heart defect and needed immediate surgery. Hari’s family is very poor and couldn’t afford it. Thanks to generous donations totaling $4,740.13, Hari’s operation was a great success. Now, she’s able to enjoy everything that other kids her age do, like running and playing!

PTM0619 - Munich, a 17 year old sponsored teenager from our Tondo site in the Philippines, lives with severe mixed hearing loss in both her ears. it was evident that Munich was in great need of hearing aids to keep up with her school work but there was no way her family could afford them. Thanks to a generous donation of $1,824, Munich received her hearing aids and can clearly hear her teacher in class and communicate much better with her friends and family. It has greatly improved her quality of life and will make it much easier for her to improve her grades and graduate high school.

Chalice may provide support to communities in countries where we work following larger-scale natural disasters. This differs from Critical Needs, which are smaller in scale and more focused towards individuals and families. Disasters are calamities resulting from such events as hurricanes, floods, drought, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, fires, tsunamis, and other natural forces.

Some examples of past Disaster Relief funding are: East African Famine and Drought Relief in 2011 and 2017; Hurricane Matthew in Haiti (South) in 2016; Typhoon Haiyan in Philippines in 2013.

In the 2018-2019 fiscal year Chalice sent $170,540 in funding to our sites, which is about 0.7% of total funds sent.

Disaster Relief projects in 2018-2019 included:

KMK1119 – Emergency Food Distribution - Kangeta, Kenya - this emergency food distribution benefited 13 primary schools located in the 11 affected villages and 2 slum settlements. This support provided fortified porridge for breakfast and a hot meal for lunch to 4,403 school children.

KMT1219 – Flood Relief – Tumaini, Kenya - Major flooding destroyed critical farming infrastructure at Michogomone Primary (242 students, 12 teachers) and St. Joseph’s High School (208 students, 14 teachers). These funds purchased a new drip kit (for crop irrigation, repaired security fences for the two affected schools, seedlings for planting, and also provided food and blankets for 100 affected families.

PCC1119 – Venezuelan Refugee Relief in Peru - Due to the serious humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, more than one million Venezuelan citizens arrived in Peru in mid-2018, with more than 17,000 arriving in Chiclayo city. Funds raised assisted 530 vulnerable migrants including children, teenagers and adults with chronic diseases who are in great need of medical care, food packages, housing support, beds and mattresses.

Every year Chalice invites eligible sponsor sites to apply for additional support through the Gift Catalogue. In the 2018-2019 fiscal year Chalice sent $1,714,233 in funding to participating sites, which is about 6.7% of total funds sent.

Eligibility is based on site capacity and performance in financial and operational requirements. Sites are given a list of items they may use to guide their requests. This program benefits both sponsored and non-sponsored children. There is a broad range of categories in the catalogue and sites use this funding opportunity to supplement activities and reach out beyond the sponsorship program. Some examples are: animals (goats, rabbits, and chickens), educational items (books, classroom furniture, and uniforms), health and hygiene (vaccines, toiletries, diapers, and specific medical needs), skills development, small business support, and community infrastructure like water systems and agricultural support.

Our Saidia sponsor site in Kenya received $20,000 from the last gift catalogue. They purchased:

• 100 chicks for Gilgil Township Primary School to boost protein intake for 878 children through the ongoing school feeding program. (The children get boiled eggs on rotational basis) thanks to the previous 100 chicken from the previous catalogue.
• 10 needy families benefitted from food baskets to last them two months.
• 20 children at Njeru Primary School received solar lamps to assist them with evening studies.
• Saidia Children’s Home received a tank stand to assist them with water storage for their kitchen garden
• The site purchased weighing scales to monitor annual child growth.
• Saidia Children’s Home will also benefit from solar lights and piping to their garden once the Covid pandemic comes to an end as currently no visitors or casual workers are allowed in the premises.
• Njeru Primary Greenhouse will receive that are currently in the seed bed and Gilgil Township Green house will benefit from onion seedlings as well. The two Greenhouses (built through previous capital project funding) will continue to assist both schools with extra income needed for the ongoing school feeding program.
• 27 children will receive high school and college fees.
• Kambi Somali School will get doors to protect the children from adverse weather when they resume school after the Covid pandemic, they are currently exposed to the harsh Gilgil weather in class as the five class doors are all broken.
• Njeru primary school will benefit from repair of their current cooking stove and Gilgil Township will get more chickens to further boost child protein intake during lunch time at school.

Chalice supports sponsor sites with various types of Community Projects under the following two categories: Human Development Programs (HDP) and Capital Projects (CP). In the 2018-2019 fiscal year Chalice sent $937,417 in funding to participating sites, which is about 3.7% of total funds sent. Our projects and programs focus on Education and Training, Food Security, Nutrition and Water, Health, and Community Improvements.

A few examples of recent Human Development Programs (HDPs) are:

PTT1019 Zero Cavities phase two - a dental program in for children in Tondo, the Philippines. Phase one treated 1700 sponsored children and 156 siblings. Phase two worked to achieve zero cavities for all remaining sponsored children and their siblings - estimated to be 3200 beneficiaries in total.

BPP0517B After School Support - Chalice’s PENNT Sponsor Site in Cochabamba, Bolivia helps children who are working on the streets trying to earn enough income to remain in school, as well as help support their families. This program helped 648 students with homework and tutoring to help them succeed in school. For the past three years that this program has run, over 99% of the sponsored children who attended successfully passed their school year.

KAL0919 Nutrition in HIV and AIDS Responses and Management - This program benefits 482 sponsored and non-sponsored children and adults living with Tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS in Asembo, Kenya. Staff is working to improve nutrition services including quality and efficient nutrition assessment and counselling services, increase access to nutrition, supplements and treatment.

A few examples of recent Capital Projects (CP) are:

KAO0619 Clean Water Infrastructure - This water project will bring clean water to 4100 beneficiaries in East Asembo (Aduoyo – Kokise), Kenya by installing infrastructure to connect the communities to the nearest water treatment plant. Access to clean water will reduce water borne diseases like Typhoid, Amoebic dysentery, and Cholera which currently affect children and adults in this area.

BYY1218 Sports Complex Repairs - Yapacaní is a small Bolivian town where 68% of the population lives in poverty. This area is home to major cocoa-leaf and cocaine production facilities and one of the greatest threats facing the youth in this region is the presence of drugs and alcohol. The Don Bosco Mini Sports Complex offers a safe space for kids to play and also hosts community events and family circle meetings but was unsafe and needed immediate repairs. This project benefits 968 sponsored children and their families.

UTT1219 Water Purification and Bathroom Renovations - Every year, the quality of tap water in Borschiv area schools in Ukraine deteriorates and it currently does not meet basic health standards. Toilets are the main source of infection in schools, and the inability to properly wash their hands is the cause of frequent illnesses in children. The vast majority of school toilets do not meet the basic hygiene requirements. This project will benefit approximately 2,150 people, including: 1,850 students (50 sponsored children), and about 300 school staff (teachers and support staff) by creating proper sanitary and hygiene conditions and making good quality potable water available in schools.