Orphan’s Lifeline supports 20,000 orphaned and abandoned children in Russia, India, Pakistan, Uganda, Kenya, Philippines, Mexico and Haiti (see pics). They are also just starting to work in Sri Lanka. They provide orphanages with food, clean water, clothing, medical care, educational fees and supplies, and much more.
Before they started working with the orphanages that they now help, the children were leaving the orphanages at the ages of 15-17 and ending up back on the streets where they became involved in crime, prostitution or gang activities. Many died within a couple of years due to starvation or because they had been murdered. Now the children in their homes are finishing high school and going on to college or trade school, and the circle of abandonment and poverty is being ended in their lives. Some of the children they began helping more than 10 years ago are now studying to become doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers and government workers.
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| Orphans in India putting on a performance in their new clothes |
How to donate:
1. Go to http://orphanslifeline.org/mjbirthdaycharity.html. Choose your donation method at the bottom of the page.
2. If you choose Credit Card or E-Check, you will be redirected to a secure donation page. Enter your information in the form. Please note that the donation amount should be in US dollars. If you wish to remain anonymous or use another name on the card to be sent to Michael’s children, for example, the name of your group ("Susie and friends"), organisation or company, or family ("the Jones family"), please specify so in the Comments box.
3. When you are done, click Submit. Very important: Please note that this is the final submit button. There is no confirmation page after this, so please look over the information that you have entered and make sure everything is correct. After you click Submit, you will get this thank you message:
If you cannot or don’t want to donate online, you can donate by mail. You can send a cheque or money order, or charge the amount to your credit card. Choose “Mail My Donation” (3rd button) or “Money Order” (4th button) from the main page and you will be taken to the page below. Fill in your information and mail this form along with your cheque or money order to the address at the top of the page. (Cheques and money orders are not recommended for those living outside the US as the fees will be rather high.)
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| Donate by mail |
Alternately, you can use Paypal. Please note that accounts using a currency other than US Dollars will be charged a small fee in addition to Paypal’s regular fees. Click on “Paypal” (5th button) on the main page, and you will be redirected to Paypal’s secure payment site.
After your transaction is complete, Paypal will email you a record of your transaction.
For those who sent in your donations online, after your donation has been processed, the charity will send you a receipt at the email address you provided.
If you are a US resident, your donation is tax-deductible. Please keep your receipt in a safe place.
That’s it!
This year, we also have a special treat for everyone. Artist Eliza Lo has generously donated a beautiful piece of MJ art for our project:
Eliza has a whole bunch of beautiful Michael drawings and she is now compiling them into a book and having it published later this year. The proceeds from the sale of the book will be used to help underprivileged children.
Anyone who donates US$25 or more will be automatically entered into a lucky draw to win a print of this beautiful drawing. The winner will be randomly chosen by computer and announced at the end of the donation period.
The charity will give us an update of the total received at the end of every week. We will post updates here and on Facebook and Twitter, so if you are a member at either site, please come join our group!
The donation period ends August 29th, so let’s start giving! Please invite your friends and family members to join you, and spread the word to other MJ fans at forums or fan groups that you hang out at.
After our charity drive is over, Orphan’s Lifeline will send a card to Prince, Paris and Blanket to inform them of our gift for Michael’s birthday. The nice people at the charity are working on making a personalised card for us right now.
Please donate generously. Make a difference for orphans around the world!
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| Happiness is making others smile :) |
Update: Someone asked why Orphan’s Lifeline only has a 3-star rating (out of a possible 4) by Charity Navigator. This is the reply from their admin:
“Charity Navigator now has us listed as a 3-star charity. They are implementing new changes to their site, and the new version will most likely restore our 4-star rating.
As for reasons for the 3-star rating, if you look at our finances, we received four stars for our financial disbursement, but 3 stars for capacity. We used to employ a guy to go to every country to check up on all the homes. As you can imagine, that was quite expensive since he was from the US. After ten years of doing what we did, we decided that we have built great relationships with the directors in each country, so we hired childcare coordinators in place of one man. Because of standards of living, it reduced our costs significantly. We can employ five additional coordinators for half of the price of one man from the US!
Anyways, when doing so, it lowered our program expense growth, which according to Charity Navigator, must be no less that 6.7%. We grew like 4.7%. So there is a penalty. Secondly, they wish for you to have at least 1 year’s worth of additional operating expenses on hand, which means that they would like us to basically not spend a dime and put away 1.6 million dollars, which when you are responsible for providing food for 20,000 orphans, is really not possible. So we got docked a star until September, when they issue updated ratings under the new system. The way we spend our money is up to their standards, but they also feel they should be able to set standards on how much we grow, which is not in our control, but in the control of generous people like you.”
You can also find Orphan’s Lifeline listed in the IRS’s registry of charities under their original name, "Life Line of Hope A Non-Profit". See also their IRS determination letter (PDF).
