FAQs about Care for Children’s Dollar a Day Program

How many schools do we have?

Care for Children supports three kinds of schools.  See our description of schools on our website (www.careforchildren.org) for more details.  The Bangalore ashram school provides education, meals, school uniforms and supplies to low income children in villages around the Bangalore ashram. In addition, we support a total of 21 tribal schools in India, with 15 tribal schools in Jharkhand state alone, that serve some of the most underprivileged children in the world. Our tribal school children are the very first in their communities to ever receive a formal education. Care for Children also supports the Vedic Heritage School that is located in the Bangalore ashram.

How many children are being educated?

A total of over 5750 children are being educated in our schools.  This includes about 2000 children in the Bangalore ashram school (Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir) and about 1500 children in our tribal schools in Jharkhand.

How many are on a waiting list?

We always have many more children waiting to be admitted to our school as well as an ongoing demand to open new schools in tribal areas that are not served by a school.  Our schools are often located in areas where there are absolutely no other schools and in the absence of our schools, our children would not receive a formal education.

What percentage of funds goes towards administration and other expenses?

The administration and mailing costs of the Care for Children are typically 5% of the contributions we collect.  Other similar organizations collect 20-30% for expenses.  We are able to keep our expenses low because we have no paid staff (we are all volunteers), and our only expenses are for printing brochures and other materials and for mailing out acknowledgement letters. Ninety-five cents of every dollar that you give reaches our schools.

How does this Program work?

The Care for Children program covers three categories of schools, namely Rural Schools, Tribal Schools and Slum schools.  The first Rural School was started near Udayapura, Karnataka State, India and the first Tribal School was started in Ghatsila Block of Singhum District in Jharkhand. The Dollar a Day Program pays for the education, meals, school uniforms and supplies for an economically disadvantaged child.The Curriculum of the Care for Children Schools are such that it expands the children’s horizons and helps them realize their full potential.  The schools provide the children with balanced meals, regular medical care, school supplies and three sets of uniforms.  (The answer is taken from the Care for Children website)

How do you identify the children who are sponsored?

All children admitted to our school are educated and provided for at no charge. There is a waiting list and children are admitted as new schools are opened or new classroom facilities are created. All low income children are eligible to come to our schools.

Will we be provided with the details of the child we are sponsoring?  Does Care for Children assign an individual child to a sponsor as is the case with other charitable organizations?

The sponsor is not assigned to an individual child since our philosophy is one of taking responsibility of all children and not just of one single child.  Different sponsors may have different levels of involvement with our children and we would like to not have some children feel excluded because of this.  The contributions go into the common fund.  You will get a personal letter from one of your many children every six months.

How is the Care for Children Program different from similar initiatives that involve educating a child in a low income country?

Most other organizations (like CRY, ASHA Christian Children’s Fund etc) raise funds to support children and do not always run their own projects. They act as the liaison between grassroots level initiatives that are doing great work with children.  Care for Children, on the other hand, is not just restricted to fundraising.  The Care for Children program runs its own schools in many parts of India.  Our involvement goes right to the heart of rural and tribal development.  It goes beyond education and is part of a larger vision that encompasses adult literacy, health care, vocational training and social awareness.

Will the sponsors be intimated about the progress made by the children?

We have instituted quarterly newsletters that will provide information on the progress of schools supported by our program.

Is there some kind of acknowledgement for my donation?

You should receive a letter of acknowledgement within a month of your contribution. A formal letter for tax purposes is sent out in the first half of January.  This letter summarizes your contributions over the entire tax year for your convenience.

Is the contribution tax exempt?

All contributions are tax exempt in the United States. The Art of Living Foundation is recognized by the IRS as 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization and your contributions are fully tax deductible. For tax deductibility in other countries, please check with your local Art of Living Apex body.

Is it open to those residing in India?  If yes, where should they send the application to and do they also have to make a contribution of 1$ or should the contribution be its  equivalent in Rupees  (approx. Rs45/- per day)?

Care for Children contributions can be made from any part of the world.  Contributions in the United States should send contributions to 2401 15 ^th Street NW, Washington, DC  20009 or contribute online or by fax (see details under Sponsor a Child on our website www.careforchildren.org).

In case in one of our trips to India we want see the children, can we do that? If yes how do we go about it?

We would be delighted to have you visit our schools in Bangalore near the ashram or in Jharkhand.  The tribal schools in Jharkhand are in remote areas and will require some advance planning.  However, the Bangalore ashram school is easy to reach.