Does The "Christian Children's Fund" Proselytize?

[arwalden]

Do they unconditionally offer their support and funds to those poor communities that they show on their commericials? Or are there strings attached... like converting/becoming a Christian? Are they actually missionaries with "free" food and building supplies?

[Warpy]

1. One policy of theirs has always bothered me

When a little girl gets pregnant, no matter what the circumstances might be, they withdraw their support from her. It's the most critical time of her life for good nutrition and health care and they drop her like a hot rock, just because it is obvious she has had SEX.

There is no equivalent for sexually active boys, of course.

Other than that, my impression is that they're one of the better charities, with less going to overhead and more going to kids, schools, drinking water, and basic medical care.

[Ian David]

6. It should be called The Christian VIRGINS Fund then! n/t

[Xithras]

9. That isn't true!

FYI, CCF provides food and nutritional assistance to kids 0-adolescent, and to both pregnant and lactating mothers (they do cut off food assistance to the mothers once the child is weaned). They ALSO provide food aid to AIDS patients, irregardless of age.

I've heard that claim made several times in the past, and don't know where it comes from. It's either confusion with another charity, or it's a practice they abandoned.

[Warpy]

13. My info is about a decade old

and comes from friends who adopted girls in Central America.

If they have abandoned that practice, I do applaud them. It was a practice at one time, though, and it left a very bitter taste in my mouth concerning that charity.

[kiahzero]

2. Well, apparently they've been criticized for not doing so:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Children's_Fund

Despite the name, CCF does not proselytize Christianity in the areas that it helps. According to its Web site, CCF "respects the cultural heritage and the personal pride and dignity of the families it assists."

In May of 2004, CCF became the subject of some contention when Christian charity watchdog group Wall Watchers sent a "donor alert" via e-mail to about 2,500 subscribers informing them that the name of the charity -- Christian Children's Fund -- was designed to intentionally mislead its donors into thinking it was faith-based missionary group. Howard Leonard, a chief executive of Wall Watchers, was quoted by a magazine as saying, "It isn't Christian in the way we look at it. If you're going to be bringing help to these children, you should be bringing the Gospel."

A spokesperson for the group admitted that the organization does not proselytize any person to a faith, rather its name is derived from its founder, a Presbyterian minister who believed in "Christian principles," such as "love thy neighbor as thyself."

Looking for a copy of that e-mail now...

[neebob]

17. Here's a link

http://www.ministrywatch.com/mw2.1/F_SumRpt.asp?EIN=540536100

There's a link to the "donor alert" about a quarter of the way down the page, beneath a red bar. I poked around and found this site rather interesting. For one thing, they take donations and report on themselves.

[azurnoir]

3. I don't know but

their commercials used to say that they aided children no matter what faith they were, recently that line has been cut out of commercials. I truly don't know whether that is because they no longer do or if it is to avoid offending fundies.

[Xithras]

4. They very much do NOT

CCF is Christian in the traditional sense...they are charitable and help children because that's what their Bible tells them to do. I've donated to CCF for years (have two kids sponsored) and have NO issues with them. They respect the cultures and religions in the countries they work in, and don't prosthelytize.

In fact, they were attacked by some "Christian" groups a while back over the fact that they DON'T do so. The fundies were incensed that a group calling itself Christian would do charitable work without trying to convert everyone. Lots of fundies refuse to donate to them, and many dropped their sponsorships, over the whole flap. That was the point when I sponsored my second kid :)

[arwalden]

5. What's The Other Children's Charity That Does Proselytize?

They also advertise a lot on TV, and their spokesman is an older man with a gray beard.

[Ian David]

7. Humanist Charities doesn't discriminate or proselytize

As the full impact of tragedies become known, we Humanists are now ready to quickly respond as Humanists and direct support toward groups having an immediate impact. This new charitable organization is in response to an outpouring of requests from American Humanist Association members who wish to give as Humanists to relief efforts.

Through this website you can give securely online to an unambiguously Humanist means of supporting relief efforts.

Thanks to your donation Humanist Charities will be prepared to respond to future catastrophes like this. Donate now.

More:
https://www.americanhumanist.org/secure/hc_donate.php


Also:



Humanists Support Katrina Relief Efforts

In the last few days, as the full impact of the tragedy in the Gulf Coast becomes known, we at the American Humanist Association have received an outpouring of requests from members who wish to give as Humanists to the relief efforts. In response we have set up a secure website so that you can give online.

https://www.americanhumanist.org/secure/humanistcharities.php

This serves as a reminder that the time is overdue to establish a permanent, unambiguously Humanist, means of supporting relief efforts. That’s why we’d like to offer you the option to allocate 5% of your donation toward establishing Humanist Charities so we can better respond to catastrophes like this.

To offer your support for the people of the Gulf Coast and help launch a lasting and effective means of responding to future tragedies, contribute online now. Funds collected will be batched and sent to the American Red Cross, the most established and active relief agency recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that is not sectarian in structure.

As the tragedy on the Gulf Coast grows daily in the face of inadequate response, we must animate our Humanist values in support of those struggling to survive and to eventually rebuild their shattered lives.

Compassion doesn’t tolerate patience; we must act now! Thank you for joining me in doing what you can to make a difference.

Sincerely,

Mel Lipman
President
American Humanist Association

In addition, you can also help get Katrina evacuees the medical information they need at www.KatrinaHealth.org.

If you're a hurricane Katrina evacuee, a doctor, or a pharmacist, you can click here to access a new free and secure online service, endorsed by the American Medical Association and hundreds of organizations. It will provide you with information about the medications that evacuees were taking before they fled their homes. This service helps get Katrina evacuees the medical information they need.

More:
http://www.americanhumanist.org/press/actionalerts/aaKatrina.php

[Breeze54]

8. They have a 3 Star rating on Charity Navigator

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/3499.htm

Charity Name----------------------------------------Overall Score----------OverallRating

Christian Children's Fund------------------------------58.14------------------***
Children International------------------------------------57.88------------------***
Christian Foundation for Children and Aging---------------64.27------------------****
Compassion International--------------------------------63.32------------------****
Save the Children---------------------------------------64.09------------------****

snip-->

http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061309.html
Tuesday June 13, 2006

Christian Children's Fund Partners with Bill Clinton, May Cost Christian Support

By John-Henry Westen

TORONTO, June 13, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The summer newsletter of the Christian Children's Fund of Canada has announced a partnership with former U.S. President and fervent abortion supporter Bill Clinton. Pro-life and family groups have reacted with shock that a Christian organization would partner with Clinton who is known--beyond his support for partial-birth abortion--for his philandering and mistruths. While the move has already lost the organization a long-time donor, the spokesman for the group defended the partnership in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com.

The organization may have sensed a backlash when it entered the partnership, as the newsletter account of the new venture begins: "No matter what you may think of former President Bill Clinton's politics, his commitment and passion when it comes to fighting the AIDS crisis in Africa is undeniable."

A long-time CCFC donor who contacted LifeSiteNews.com but wished to remain anonymous expressed dismay about the new development. "For many years I had been a supporter of CCFC. I've never had any doubts that the money I donated was wisely spent and used to help those who desperately needed it," he said. "Unfortunately recently I have found out that CCFC has built a partnership with the Clinton Foundation. Bill Clinton has been well known for his advocacy of abortion and anti-family policies."

.... more at link...

How very "christian" of the christians!! :sarcasm:

[cornermouse]

10. Unicef is 4 star.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/4617.htm

That's probably who I'll be donating to.

[Breeze54]

11. Who's doing the ratings?

I didn't read all of it but I wonder who's doing the ratings and do they have an agenda?
:shrug:

[cornermouse]

12. Charity Navigator.

I used the same ratings source you used.

[Xithras]

14. It depends on how you want the money to be spent

CCF monies are pretty much only spent on food. They feed the hungry and keep kids from starving. They also do so in pretty much every impoverished nation on the planet. Unicef is more of a political charity. They do feed children in disaster areas and in response to specific events (like wars or droughts), but most of their money goes to furthering the education and rights of children. They build schools, they educate families on proper nutrition, and they fight against child marriage and traffiking.

They are both quality organizations and both deserve support, but they have different goals and can't really be compared with each other. CCF focuses on feeding kids today so they won't starve and will have some kind of future. UNICEF focuses on making sure that their futures are worth living for.

[cornermouse]

15. Good points.

Thank you.

[neebob]

16. I don't like the guilt-trippy way they solicit donations

and call me skeptical, but I'm suspicious of the specific-child thing. They obviously require the children to write letters, which really bothers me. It seems demeaning and oppressive and, at the same time, calculated.

They also allow gifts to specific children, which doesn't seem fair or right to me, and allude to some parental responsibilities that I don't see outlined on their website. I'd like to know what those parental responsibilities are. Their FAQ and really their entire website reads like B.S. They don't talk specifically enough to suit me about what they do. They're helping, they're working, they're fighting - the question, in most cases, is how.

Family Income Generation is one exception, where they talk about micro-credit - i.e., "small, low-interest loans" to help start or expand businesses ... er, excuse me, economic activities. Why do they charge interest? And what gets done with the interest?

It all adds up to, "Trust us, we're doing a lot of different stuff."

Not that it's unusual to have a website full of B.S. that fails to answer my questions. I don't think it's crooked; it just feels like a racket.

Okay, so their financial transparency and performance compare favorably with other charities. I'd like to see some comparative effectiveness measures by an independent agency. They don't even explain their own effectiveness measures very well, or I should say the Journal of Accountancy doesn't explain them very well.

Blah, blah, blah. You're supposed to guess and make assumptions and feel good about it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

18. I used to sponsor children in Indonesia through CCF

(I gave up when I was having financial difficulties and haven't gone back), but here's my take:

The real fundies criticize them because they don't proselytize. For example, the children I sponsored were Muslim, and the social worker wrote to me (when the children were too young to write for themselves) about about sponsoring a party at the end of Ramadan.

They were also criticized by right-wingers who thought that all those lazy Third World people needed was to go to work. (Uhhh....)

The letters came from (Name of a town in Indonesia) Family Helper Project. The children got food aid, social activities, and assistance with school expenses.