Hey there! It's Star of Hope!

A while ago, I got to meet Tony and Myrta, who run our Haiti branch. Unfortunately, it's still too risky for foreigners to travel to Haiti, but despite that, we're running seven schools and supporting seven churches in the country.

But we're facing a lot of challenges right now, like gang violence, fuel shortages, and skyrocketing food prices. It's tough, but Tony and Myrta are doing an amazing job. They're risking their own safety to keep things going, and we're so proud to have them on our team.

Unfortunately, three of our schools are in a really dangerous area because of the violence. Our workers and students are at risk every day. But Tony's set up a network to keep us all informed, and we're doing our best to keep things going. We've had to cut back our "lunch buddy program" to just four lunches a week because of all these difficulties.

We need help, and not just with food. We need new textbooks, replacement solar batteries, internet in some areas, training for teachers, computer facilities for students, and laptops for teachers. It's a lot, but we're doing our best.

Despite all of this, we're still educating kids and spreading the message of Christ, thanks to people like you. We appreciate any help you can give us as we work in this tough environment.

Remember, the kids are getting an education, food, and love because of you and people like you. We're doing all we can to make a difference, and we'd be grateful for any extra help you can provide.

 This month we ask for extra help with school lunches.    

Thank you and rich blessings,
Mark Presson

CEO Star of Hope

The year in pictures.Editor

Excursions, graduation days, and the feeling of quenching one's thirst with clear, clean water. Share the children's joy on five continents!

At our vocational school in Argentina, courses are held in cooking, baking, and crafts, as well as a newly started hairdressing course.

In Minsk, the capital of Belarus, children with disabilities participated in the inclusion festival "We need each other".

In Brazil, hundreds of children were welcomed to our preschools and our resource center.

Despite one of the world's longest pandemic lockdowns, all graduating students in the Philippines managed to pass their exams.

In October, our 996 preschool children in Ghana underwent a comprehensive health check.

In Haiti, a solar-powered water pump was installed in La Vallée. In 12 years, we have completed 21 water projects that provided clean water in 9 villages.

In Kenya, which is suffering the worst drought in 40 years, thanks to corporate support, we were able to lay a several-mile-long drinking water pipe to the Jimba School and its 400 children.

Our children from two special schools in Latvia were able to participate in the art festival Come Along.

Hundreds of vulnerable Roma come to our resource centers in Romania every school day.

Since the age of 2, 12-year-old Sorana with Down syndrome has received help at our day center in Iasi.

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If you gave to the Children of War or other Star of Hope project, thank you!

If you are a supporter or monthly giver thank you more!

Keeping the Mission going means we can continue to do all we do as well as raise funds for example to help hand-to-mouth farmers in Haiti be able to borrow simple farm tools so they can plant basic crops. NO they do not have the economy to own their own tools, hence a tool bank.

Thank you for your generous contribution, which is crucial to our mission of providing aid and education to those in need. While we are grateful for every gift we receive, we rely on monthly sponsors to keep our operations running smoothly. Without regular monthly support, we would be forced to shut down our schools and centers and let go of our dedicated staff.

Just like a normal household, we have fixed costs that must be paid every month. Rent, electricity, and food for our students are just a few of the expenses we must cover to keep our programs running. That's why we need to know that we have a reliable source of income each month.

While unexpected large gifts are wonderful for special projects, they cannot sustain our long-term aid work. We cannot rely on sporadic donations to pay our staff or fund our programs. 

It is only through the faithful support of monthly sponsors ( thank you who are again!) that we can continue to provide education, develop communities, spread the Gospel, and support to those who need it most.

Your contributions, no matter how small, make a tremendous difference in the lives of our students. They are worth more than millions to the children we serve. If you want to become a monthly sponsor, please click the link below.

To those who have been with us and helped, Thank you again for your support.

Are you new or undecided, trust us is it time to sign up and be a monthly sponsor.

Use the link below to give from the heart.

Rich Blessings

Mark Presson

CEO

https://www.starofhope.us/give/donations

Top Needs in 2023 

Top Need, Haiti and impending food insecurity. Did you know one dollar buys a meal? Thirty dollars buys a family food package that lasts up to 4 weeks. 

The continued worsening of the political system and gang violence has created a food crisis. We need to shore up our disaster fund to combat hunger.

Together we can provide food and the means to share the Gospel more often and with more people. We ask for your consideration and prayers.

We appeal to you for gifts to our emergency fund now, so we will be able to respond fast to the appeals from our projects. We know that Non Profits traditionally will be the first to be cut from your economic and financial plan. Now you know why it is so important to continue and for you who do not give to chime in with perhaps just 10 dollars a month. Together we are strong and will help keep and restore our children's lives.

Donate now to our Emergency fund

We want our kids healthy and in a normal environment.

We have had a wonderful last 2 years in 2020-2021 with many projects completed. We were blessed with funds for new construction projects including Churches, Schools, and water projects, as well as seed and tool projects and more. Our main thrust is always the 30,000 kids in our schools, learning their ABCs as well as hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Vision is a world where all children have an opportunity to become educated, healthy adults, get involved in their communities, and share their love of Jesus Christ.

We depend on your time, talent, and treasure. Without you, the kids would not be in school and our extra important projects would never have a chance, so thank you and God bless you.

One desire we have is that you become a sponsor. That is what we need to make it possible to help kids around the world. $30 a month will fill the need for one child!

MORE TOP NEEDS 2021-2022 

Monthly supporters to keep the work of changing lives for the better and breaking the chains of poverty. 

Lunch Buddies needed, ( value with a punch) Lunches at school keep kids in school where they learn and hear the gospel, this is vital to help them succeed now and forever. We have a huge deficit in our feeding program.

Water Wells

Water wells in Haiti

When hurricane Matthew struck in October, the pipes to the old water station were destroyed in the remote village of Hesse. This could have had severe consequences – but the people of Hesse did not have to despair. Because right before the hurricane struck, Star of Hope had finished the construction of new wells made possible by private donations from dedicated sponsors. Their water is now being used for drinking as cooking as well as personal hygiene by grateful local families.

Click to help us drill more

Cattle 

Cattle in Argentina

In Argentina, we have a cattle operation and the income from it helps provide long-term support for the Toba population and other projects that help the children. We have worked for over 40 years in Argentina. You are so important here, you can be involved in investing in needed farm animals to increase the; heard, profit, and the amount of assistance given. Every

earned dollar goes to help the Toba population. However, the farm is too small to generate any major profits but with your help, we can eventually create a self-sufficient source of income to help the work. Right now we need to add more calves, is this interesting call CEO, Mark Presson

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Build new children’s home to replace one that we have to vacate. $375,000 needed

This is the Carrefour children’s home for 100 kids. They have to vacate the property which they did not own. The government has made land available outside the city. Other donors have pledged or given half of the total cost of $750,000. The balance we need is $375,000. This will build 4 group homes, each holding 20 children and an apartment for a set of house parents. The project also includes a dining/study hall and an office/guest house.

Child Evangelism & Discipleship Training. $97,500 needed

This project will make sure that each child has a Bible. Each teacher has training in child evangelism and child discipleship training. Since this is a startup project for us that we intend to replicate worldwide, I estimate the cost to be $25 per child. We have 3,900 children presently in our projects in Haiti.

The dream is to expand this to all 30,000 children we work with worldwide. The cost for that will reach $600,000.

Girls Dorm

Blessings to you and the people in your life. This month I share a press release in lieu of a letter.

The information surrounds the situation in Ukraine, and introduces a wonderful song that was made for all of us!

It's called "Pray for Ukraine" and it is located here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Star of Hope provides essential aid to Ukrainian refugees.

Kansas, USA - March 2, 2023 - Almost forty years ago, in 1986, a nuclear power plant located in north Ukraine was involved in an accident that was rated as a maximum severity level. The disaster, which resulted in the meltdown of a reactor core followed by a fire that raged for about a week, released radioactive contaminants into the air to land in other countries as well as the surrounding community. Since then, Ukraine has faced numerous challenges, including a recent military invasion by Russia, forcing thousands of refugees to flee to neighboring countries. Among those offering aid is Star of Hope, a Kansas-based international organization with a focus on children.

Star of Hope has been working in Ukraine since the Chornobyl disaster, providing assistance to affected children and their families. They started sending shipments to the hospitals treating these children, and camps were developed to help the affected children become part of the world around them. Specialized facilities were also developed, especially in Romania, for helping children with disabilities.

Through years of experience in Romania, Star of Hope has developed processes and methods of effective help for those who are struggling during this time of uncertainty. A five-point program has been developed to provide essential aid to Ukrainian refugees, which has included emergency shipments of trucks to the heart of Ukraine with a priority of including small wood-burning stoves to help during the winter, turning Romanian children's centers into shelters, emergency transportation and support of refugees to the Star of Hope retreat in Sweden, medicine for those children who have lost their thyroid gland due to cancer, and caring for the Ukrainian refugees. Mark Presson, CEO says” …every day since the start our staff has been at the border offering assistance.” One worker on the borders front line says, ”The help you give your fellow human beings can leave shimmering rings on the water decades later.”

Simon Ådahl & Peo Thyren 

Link to Video and sound file:

https://www.starofhope.us/pray-for-ukraine-song-and-video

Link to the music video:
https://youtu.be/NeMwBM9PBm8

Link to the sound file:
https://on.soundcloud.com/YS3jq

Star of Hope is asking for support at the borders, feeding the refugees, fuel for the transportation of goods and people, medicines, and support for traumatized families from Ukraine. They urge everyone to spread the word of the need and visit their website, www.starofhope.us, to donate or learn more.

Ask: Please share the video and audio with your friends.

Rich Blessings and thank you for all you do!

Mark Presson

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The elephant in the room...

Fifty-four percent of donors in the USA, have a wavering view of the course our country is on.

This along with increasing concern about health, inflation, and recent losses in the stock market-fund market, all are signaling weaker donor attitudes in 2022 and 2023.

It might be worse as some say near-term pessimism among donors, is approaching an all-time high.

When I read these opinions or even facts from philanthropy organizations, I'm not dissuaded but I'm grateful that star of hope has an incredibly loyal donor base.

For the last two years star of hope has been on an economic roller coaster and the donors have always come through in the end.

Even with a lawyer donor base the economy affects Star of Hope tremendously, food prices in Haiti have doubled more than three times in the last 10 years and our lunch feeding program costs more than ever.

The war in Ukraine has emptied our coffers. We were helping in Ukraine directly after the Chornobyl accident in 1986, so we feel compelled to help again as we have many friends there. We have been at the border of Ukraine and Romania since day one.

We want to do more, to help more and this year's year-end-giving is an appeal to you to help a child of war or a hungry kid in Haiti. These are the two programs of many that we need help with now at year's end.

My wife and I tithe, it is our decision, and we feel blessed to do so. Sometimes it gets tight, but we never waver, we instead cut back on non-essentials. I believe we are blessed when we do so.

Our giving at Star of Hope has been stable but erratic. This is due to the future of nonprofits being in flux, the number of new nonprofits is increasing. In 1970 there were 700,000 nonprofits in the USA now there are 1.5 million.

That is not including funding done by Facebook, GoFundMe, YouCaring, Indiegogo, Generosity, CrowdRise, Just Giving, and so on.

The new internet fundraising sites take that number of nonprofits to some huge number I do not know and can not get a good grasp on.

Be sure though many private people are raising money for private people and things, some honorable and some perhaps not.   

This all means there are more and more nonprofits and people, in general, asking for your donation. How does one decide, there are a lot of good causes out there.

It is my opinion and most important to me that your nonprofit giving should come with great timely reporting and that is one thing we at Star of Hope pride ourselves with.

Another is contractability, if you call our office, you get a real person and you are welcome to speak to the CEO.

So, even if you are scared or unsure about the economy, and you decide to give, know that your yearend giving will have a great effect at Star of Hope, and you will get a report back. You are welcome to call me and ask questions.

I appeal to you for your yearend gift!

www.starofhope.us/give

Mark Presson

CEO