Since we announced a change in our policies last Monday, we have had a number of questions and would like to address some of those. You can view our change in policies here: TFO Change in Policies

1. Although Ten for Orphans is not financially supporting the Reece’s Rainbow organization, we are supporting the orphans on Reece’s Rainbow, which is most important to us. Our current sponsored orphan, Gavin, is listed on Reece’s Rainbow. We may continue sponsoring orphans on Reece’s Rainbow into the future, but the difference is that funds raised through our web site will be directed through the three organizations that we are now supporting: Project HOPEFUL, Life2Orphans, and Grace Haven Ministries. Reece’s Rainbow families are still welcome to contact us about sponsorship, and we will be happy to consider them as long as they have a fund set up with one of the above three organizations. For families who do not already have a fund set up, we will be glad to help facilitate this process. Here are links to the web sites of all three organizations for your reference: Project HOPEFUL, Life2Orphans, and Grace Haven Ministries.  Additionally, please check out the following video on Project HOPEFUL for more information about it’s founder and their mission:  http://www.projecthopeful.org/media1?pid=9 This video is also available for viewing directly on our home page.

2. We do not wish to get sidetracked from our support of orphans by focusing on the reasons behind our change in policy. We did, however, make our decision with much prayer and consideration. Since we have not publicly announced the reasons for our decision, please do not accept information or explanations from other sources. Additionally, the only organizations that we are supporting at present are the three we are referencing above. We are not endorsing or supporting any other organizations. That does not mean that we can necessarily endorse every action these three organizations may take, but we have spent significant time familiarizing ourselves with them and communicating with them to the point that we are comfortable encouraging donors to support orphans and families through them.

3. We are saddened that we are no longer able to sponsor individual orphans. This was not an easy decision to make. However, we have chosen to focus on sponsoring orphans who have a family in process of adopting them for various reasons. Some aspects to consider are whether or not a child ages out of the system, dies, is adopted domestically, or without the knowledge of the organization entrusted with the funds for his/her adoption. In those instances, the monies that have been donated may not be directed where the donors intended. There is much less risk of that happening when a family is already in the process of adoption. There were other considerations that impacted this decision as well. As a fundraising organization, we must do our best to be responsible in our recommendations. However, if we are able to determine another approach or can change our policy in the future, we would like to do so.

4. There is also a question about when funds are dispersed to families from the organizations we now support. We did not make our decision to support them based on when they release funds to families. However, we would like to mention that every organization exercises some form of discretion when dispersing funds, and there are always potential concerns with even the strictest policies.

In conclusion, we never intended to seek support only from the adoption community or to support only one organization as was stated on our web site for several months. Our purpose has always been to support orphans wherever we can and to find support from those who were not previously aware of the plight of orphans with special needs. As we are not excluding Reece’s Rainbow orphans or Reece’s Rainbow families, we look at our change in policies as a largely positive expansion, and we hope to continue to expand the ways we help orphans in the future. We hope you will join us in this worthwhile endeavor!