Abandoned Little Angels-Nhom Tinh Thuong

We believe that the best way to fight poverty is through education. We realize that education is not just about learning, but also about providing the proper environment that is conducive to learning. This includes proper nutrition and a safe haven free from predators. Abandoned Little Angels help fund a number of centers and orphanages throughout Vietnam which provide free education, food, and shelter to the most underprivileged children in Vietnam. They also include educational centers, vocational training centers, and schools for disabled children. We feel that a proper education is the primary tool to break free from the cycle of poverty. Our hope is that the children we help escape poverty will return and help the next generation of impoverished children do the same.

Our strategy is to maximize the effectiveness of each dollar donated. Our approach to this strategy is two-pronged: keep overhead low and develop trusted partners in Vietnam to implement our vision. We believe that keeping overhead low is a key element for the success of any nonprofit. Low overhead ensures that a large percentage of every dollar donated goes to the children.

The development and maintenance of trusted partners in Vietnam is a key part of the strategy. These relationships give us confidence that our donors’ money is being used as intended.

Abandoned Little Angels approach to budgeting has always been to rely on volunteers and donations. Abandoned Little Angels only has one part-time employee. The majority of our organization’s work is done by volunteers, from marketing and networking to setting up fundraising events. One of our main strengths is our ability to recruit a wide range of professionals that share our passion for helping these children. We utilize our volunteers’ talents and networks to raise awareness and to fundraise. Because of our volunteer base, we are currently able to utilize approximately eighty cents of every dollar donated towards funding our projects. Abandoned Little Angels has been awarded America's Best Charities Seal of Excellence for meeting the highest standard of public accountability, program efficiency, and cost effectiveness. Abandoned Little Angels is currently participating in the Combine Federal Campaign.

We realized that we must have trusted partners in Vietnam. We partner and help fund numerous centers in Vietnam that solely focus on the betterment of impoverished children. Our relationship with some of these centers goes back years if not decades. These centers range from orphanages to school for blind children. Every year members of our board, both past and present, travel to Vietnam at their own expense to help oversee and audit the work of various centers. These members sometimes travel 2-3 times a year and will often take friends and family on their trips. This personal approach not only allows for eyewitness accounts of the progress of various projects but also help cultivate the trust that is vital to maintaining a healthy relationship with our partners in Vietnam.

Currently, we are supporting over 30 centers that are serving over 3,000 children in need. We are also involved in several building projects including helping expand a small orphanage in Saigon. Previously, Hoa Hong (Rose Orphanage) was a 1,000 square foot home housing 20 children. In 2019, Abandoned Little Angels help fund an expansion that increased the square footage to 4,000 square foot. This additional space will help alleviate the severe overcrowding at the orphanage. Abandoned Little Angels is also currently helping to build Sao Mai (Morning Star) Center in Nha Trang, Vietnam. This school provides education to 95 children with a variety of disabilities such as Down syndrome. To further our commitment to provide skills that will significantly improve the chances of gaining employment in the future, we are implementing English programs at a few centers.

A few years ago, we began expanding our support for local organizations that serve underprivileged children. We have distributed funds to Brownson Home, Heroes for Children, Generation One, Make a Wish Foundation, Periwinkle Foundation, and Kids Meals. We would like to continue to expand funding for these vital centers that focus on giving hope to deprived children in our hometown. We are currently looking at additional local organizations to support.

During this unprecedented time of COVID-19, we have recruited volunteers to both donate and help deliver meals to our frontline workers. We also recognize the extreme financial stress our fellow neighbors are experiencing and the need for food assistance. We started an online fundraising program and with the help of our volunteers, were able to provide 3,500 meals to our fellow Houstonians either through food deliveries or donations to food assistance organizations. We will continue to support the Houston Food Bank, Meals on Wheels and Kids Meals on an annual basis.

Our core mission is and always will be to help underserved children and give them hope for a brighter future. We will continue to do everything we can to serve the vast number of children who are in desperate need of the basic necessities that no child should be without.