Have You Sent These Things to Your Sponsored Child?

Wondering what you can send to your sponsored child? Read on for the items you can include with your letters, plus learn what not to send.

23 Apr, 2018

Your letters are the best and most important way you can build a relationship with your sponsored child and help them feel empowered. Through letters, you and your sponsored child learn about each other's lives, families and how you can pray for each other. What a privilege!

But is there anything else you can send with your letters?

While we can't send items like clothing, toys or books, there are lots of little extras you can send to bless your sponsored child.

11 Items You Can Send to Your Sponsored Child

The good news is we can deliver items that are flat, made of paper or cardboard, and up to A4 size. Laminated items are also fine to send.

Here's some inspiration of what these items could look like!

1. Stickers
2. Bookmarks
3. Photos
4. Postcards
5. Greeting cards, including pop-up cards and musical cards
6. Pages or photocopies from colouring books
7. Flat paper crafts, like origami
8. Paintings or drawings
9. Print-outs of Bible verses
10. Paper dolls or paper planes
11. Folded posters
12. And letters, of course!

What We Can't Send to Your Sponsored Child

Unfortunately, we aren't able to send parcels containing items that don't meet the above criteria, due to customs charges and restrictions, postage costs and the risk of theft. Any items we can't send are donated to a local children's charity.

Common Examples of Items We're Unable to Send

1. Magnets
2. Ribbons
3. Toys or teddy bears
4. Anything made from metal or plastic, although laminating items is fine
5. Balloons
6. Band-Aids
7. Pages from newspapers or magazine articles (because it is very time consuming to translate these into your sponsored child's language)
8. Pamphlets
9. Children's books
10. Lollies
11. CDs/DVDs
12. Clothes
13. Crocheted bookmarks
14. Elastic hair bands
15. Food
16. Foreign currency
17. Friendship or plastic bracelets
18. Seeds

Other Gifts You Can Give Your Sponsored Child

In place of sending a physical gift to your sponsored child, giving a financial gift means that local centre staff in your sponsored child's community will talk with your sponsored child and their family and purchase a gift locally. Their family might be able to purchase items they need such as furniture or clothing, or they might get something that can provide long-term economic stability like chickens, goats or cows.

A financial gift ensures your gift matches your child's needs, respects cultural sensitivities, and helps support their local economy. You can make a financial gift online in your My Account or by contacting our friendly team.

These gifts include:

• Child gifts (known as a General gift in My Account) from $20+ can be given to your sponsored child. You can give a gift to your sponsored child up to twice a year (we recommend one of these to be a birthday gift), to a combined total of $150.

• Family gifts from $20+ can be given to your sponsored child’s family. Project staff help the family to use the gift wisely. You can give your sponsored child’s family a gift up to four times per year, to a combined total of $1500.

• Child centre gifts from $150+ can be given to your sponsored child’s child development centre. It will be used to purchase equipment or meet the project’s most urgent need. You can give a gift to your sponsored child’s centre up to four times a year, to a combined total of $3000.

• Final gifts (also known as a graduation gift) of up to $3000 can be sent to your sponsored child during their final year of the Child Sponsorship Program to help set them up for the future.

Giving a financial gift can also make an enormous difference in the aftermath of natural disasters. We will notify you if your sponsored child has been affected by a crisis like this.

To set up one of these gifts, simply log into your My Account or get in touch with our friendly team.

Your letters and your gifts help remind your sponsored child of God's love - and your love, too. Just ask nine-year-old Genisis's mum Sandra in El Salvador.

"We owe everything to God and we value each prayer and present because we know it shows God's love for our family."

Thank you for making an incredible difference as a sponsor!

If you would prefer to give a one-time donation to support children living in poverty, you can give to Critical Needs. When you give a donation to a Critical Need, your gift gives a child living in poverty life-saving support and is also tax deductible. Poverty leaves children without any safety net or protection, so when unforeseen circumstances arise, there is often little hope for recovery. You can give an online donation today and make a significant impact!

To claim a tax deduction at the end of the financial year, all you need to do is keep an eye on your email. Your receipt for your tax return will be emailed to you by our friendly team. Thank you for your generosity—your gifts and donations truly make an impact.

Words by Zoe Noakes