According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 15.8 million children under 18 in the United States live in households where they are unable to consistently access enough nutritious food necessary for a healthy life.

In 2013, 14.7 million or approximately 20 percent of children in the U.S. lived in poverty. DeNavas-Walt, C. & B.D. Proctor. (2014). Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013. U.S. Census Bureau.

In 2012, 41% of children born in the U.S. were born to unmarried moms.

According to the Heritage Foundation:

• Children whose parents have divorced are increasingly the victims of abuse. They exhibit more health, behavioral, and emotional problems, are involved more frequently in and drug abuse, and have higher rates of suicide.
• Children of divorced parents perform more poorly in reading, spelling, and math. They also are more likely to repeat a grade and to have higher drop-out rates and lower rates of college graduation.
• Families with children that were not poor before the divorce see their income drop as much as 50 percent. Almost 50 percent of the parents with children that are going through a divorce move into poverty after the divorce.  (Retrieved 5/26/2015 from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2000/06/the-effects-of-divorce-on-america)

Both married and single-parent families need our support!

Many communities face tension along racial lines.  Homelessness is a growing issue as housing becomes more and more expensive. 

Literacy Partners tells us 30 million Americans are functionally illiterate—reading below a fifth grade level.  63 million more read at between a fifth and ninth grade level, which means they are unable to understand a basic newspaper.

Today, there are approximately 400,000 children in the U.S. foster care system.  Over a hundred thousand of them are legally available for adoption.

The problem is worldwide.

It is estimated that 27-35 million people across the globe are victims of human trafficking.

Around the world, there are an estimated 153 million orphans who have lost one parent. There are 17,900,000 orphans who have lost both parents and are living in orphanages or on the streets and lack the care and attention required for healthy development. These children are at risk for disease, malnutrition, and death. (Retrieved from http://data.unicef.org/hiv-aids/protection-care-support)

Care.org tells us that around the globe:

• “Measles, malaria and diarrhea are three of the biggest killers of children — yet all are preventable or treatable.
• More than 30 million children in the world are not immunized against treatable or preventable diseases.
• 1 in 5 children lack safe drinking water. 
• 270 million children have no access to healthcare. 
• Every day, almost 2,000 children die from diseases linked to unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation.
• More than 100 million children under age 5 are undernourished and underweight, which contributes to 45 percent of all infant deaths.
• More than 300 million children are chronically hungry, and more than 90 percent of these children suffer from long-term malnourishment and nutrient deficiency. 
• Stunting affects 165 million children under 5 years old. That’s one out of every four children in the world.
• Every day, 1,000 children are newly-infected with HIV — this is completely preventable.

It can be overwhelming to even begin researching these issues—believe us, we know.  How do we help?  By emphasizing the four pillars: faith, family, freedom, and fun across the nation and around the globe.