Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Region
Founded in 2005, following the formation of the national Friends of the Orphans organization, the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Region encompasses the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia. In order to support the children of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH, Spanish for "Our Little Brothers and Sisters") in the most efficient way, the processing of donations for the region are handled in the national office in Chicago, IL.
Notes & News
Kelly's Ride - Charity Bike Ride helps our children in Haiti!
Kelly’s Ride, a charity bike ride program whose mission is to support agencies that help disadvantaged girls and young women, hosted its 5th annual bike ride in the Delaware Valley on June 5, 2010, and donated a portion of its proceeds to Friends of the Orphans and the building of the new orphanage, St. Louis, in Haiti. The event was a great kickoff to summer and offered three different routes for it’s participants; a 65, 40, and 25 mile ride, all of which ended in beautiful Ocean City, NJ right on the beach. Once there, a party awaited, with Dave’s Famous BBQ, plenty of Skinny Water and goodies from Isgro’s Pastries! There was also music, children’s activities and complimentary massages for riders. Many thanks to Jim Olsen, Shawn Hughes-Camp and everyone who helped!
Care to Share - National Siblings Day Celebration at the Bronx Zoo was a great success!
With the help of 40 amazing volunteers, on April 10, we brought over 200 people together to share the work of Friends of the Orphans and NPH’s mission to save lives and keep siblings together in permanent, loving homes. We were honored to have Claudia Evart, founder of National Siblings Day, not just attend, but also speaking to our audience about the importance of the sibling bond. Sharon Saxelby, President and Chief Executive Officer of Friends of the Orphans, was present for our first-ever national event! The celebration was held simultaneously at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, the location of our national headquarters. Alina Fleury, Child Sponsorship Manager of the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Region, was there to celebrate with old Friends and new as our region continues its ground-breaking year dedicated to getting to know Friends all over the region. We are excited and already preparing for 2011 and our plans for expansion.
Please click here to view photos from the event.
No trips are currently scheduled. To see travel opportunities coordinated by other regions,
click here.
Featured Friends
Caitlin Sidwell
Giving Back to the Children
Caitlin has been a volunteer at Nuestro Pequeños Hermanos (NPH, Spanish for “Our Little Brothers and Sisters”) and a great friend to the children. She is getting married in the fall and in lieu of traditional wedding gifts, she is asking that her friends and family donate to Friends and NPH instead. "NPH was such an important part of my life and I really want to help out as much as I can," explains Sidwell. She and her fiancé, Greg Behrman, of Washington, D.C., have decided to direct all the proceeds to NPH Guatemala, because this was the home Caitlin volunteered. Please click here if you would like to make a donation in their honor. Thank you again to Caitlin, Greg and all those who support our children!
Dana Peggy Allan
My Trip to NPH Mexico
After attending a youth conference focused on service, my sister and I really wanted to find some special way in which we could be involved with a good cause that would make a difference in the world. After looking at various sponsorship organizations online, we became interested in Friends of the Orphans. As we learned more about the organization, we decided to sign up to sponsor a girl in Mexico. Since my brother was serving a mission in Mexico City, we had high hopes of going to Mexico at the end of his two-year service to pick him up and then visit the Nuestro Pequeños Hermanos (NPH, Spanish for “Our Little Brothers and Sisters”) home.
It was a longer trip than we expected, driving from Mexico City to Cuernavaca where the NPH home is, and we were anxious to arrive. Because our arrival time had been delayed, unfortunately we had a shorter period of time than we had hoped, but soon enough we were able to meet Maria. She was very shy at first, but after my brother spoke with her in Spanish, we all started to feel more comfortable and communicate more. She took us on a tour of the grounds, which was beautiful and very well-kept. On our trip around the campus, we came across a group of rowdy young boys and girls who were running around the basketball courts, covered in paint. The kids, paint cracked all over their faces and smeared in their hair, were having the time of their lives, and immediately interacted with us.
My family and I were all very impressed with the state of the classrooms, the artwork inside, and the murals on the walls, the gardens and buildings of the campus. We also ran into a small group of girls, recently bathed and in their pajamas, walking down to dinner. They were the most adorable girls. They came right up and gave us all big hugs and smiles that stretched from ear to ear. All the kids seemed to be in good spirits, whether they were playing soccer, eating birthday cake, playing with the dog, or just talking with their group of friends.
We talked more with Maria, and when it began to get dark, and the time approached to leave, none of us wanted to go - we were all comfortable with each other and were enjoying our time. We exchanged hugs and said our goodbyes, but it was certainly a trip that we will always remember. It was such an enriching experience to make that personal connection with our Goddaughter and gain a broader perspective on all the good work that NPH is doing. I’m so grateful that we made the connection with Friends of the Orphans and NPH and were able to visit one of the homes in Mexico. I am always going to keep with me the experiences and sentiments that I was able to experience during our trip, and am glad to continue our involvement with this organization.
Photo: Smiling Maria in her school uniform.
St. Louis Church in Pittsford, NY
Generations of Support
Friends of the Orphans is an organization that has been saving the lives of children for many years. Its existence has only been possible by friends introducing our mission to their own communities and through generations, the support has grown. A great example of this continuing support is the community of St. Louis Church in Pittsford, NY, guided by Fr. Kevin Murphy.
Bob McNamara brought word of NPH’s work to St. Louis over 20 years ago and has continued to be crucial in keeping the cause close to their hearts. Each year, the parish and the World Hunger Task Force Committee, under the longtime leadership of Marcia Mendola, organizes countless events to educate people about the needs in our homes and ask for support. These are as simple as requesting a tithing from the parish itself, a field of corn from a local farm whose profits are dedicated to helping the hungry in Haiti, a local special needs school creating Christmas ornaments which are sold by the World Hunger Task Force through numerous merchants and other churches throughout the greater Rochester area to honor our special needs children without loving parents and a modern school, a grant for surgeries at St. Damien Hospital, and even a local restaurant bottling their famous marinara sauce to send additional funds to the victims of Haiti’s earthquake.
So far this year, St. Louis Church and its parishioners have raised over $55,000 to help NPH save the lives of men, women and children. Their global influence increases by the number of St. Louis church members and friends who sponsor NPH children and provide monthly support and share this passion with those in their lives.
A heavy burden was laid on the Haitian people this January when a 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated the residents of Port-au-Prince. The St. Louis community would not let them stand alone. Our friends old and new at St. Louis have risen to the occasion. When Angelo Rose, a singer/song writer was inspired to produce a song for these suffering people, he looked to someone he admired for support and direction. Marcia Mendola has been a supporter of Friend of the Orphans for years and a parishioner of St. Louis Church for even longer. When Angelo asked her how best to aid the Haitian community, she did not hesitate to direct him to Friends of the Orphans.
Now there is a new generation of support from the St. Louis Community that you can become a part of. In collaboration with Angelo Rose, Mango Tree for Haiti is donating 100% of all profits from the sale of the song to Friends of the Orphans and the Angels of Light Program. For the price of a song you can change a life. For more information, click here.
If you are interested in getting your church or community involved, please contact your local office of Friends of the Orphans.
Photo from left: Angelo Rose, singer/composer of "Under the Mango Tree" benefit song for the Angels of Light Program in Haiti; Pam Schickler; Director of Dance at the Nazareth Schools, who organized a Haiti fundraiser and has sold angel ornaments for several years; and Marcia Mendola, Hunger Chair at St. Louis Church.
Featured Friends Archive
Contact Us
Friends of the Orphans
Attn: Mid-Atlantic/
Northeast Region
134 North La Salle Street*
Suite 500
Chicago, IL 60602-1036
888.201.8880
Fax: 312.658.0040
infoma-ne@friendsus.org
*Effective March 30, 2010, donations and mail for this region will be handled in the office in Chicago, IL, so that we may support NPH in the most efficient way possible.
Staff:
Alina Fleury
Regional Manager
Child Sponsorship
Arianne Keegan
Office Assistant