As Trinity HOPE starts a new school year in Haiti, we are tremendously blessed to be able to add an additional 2,185 children, teachers, and cooks to the feeding programs we administer in Christian schools throughout the country. Through God’s grace, we are now serving over 33,000 meals each school day to these hungry children in 160 schools. That is over 6,000,000 meals per year. Beyond receiving a nutritious noon meal each day to sustain their life, each child is now also better equipped to hear and retain the Gospel message their teachers and pastors are sharing with them at school. Feeding a child for a day is absolutely critical, but feeding a child the True Bread of Life that gives them eternal life in heaven with Jesus is the real goal. That is exactly why every school Trinity HOPE feeds is required to be a Christian school. We thank and praise God for allowing these additional children to now be part of our programs.
As you can imagine, providing over 6,000,000 meals per year takes a lot of money. But when each meal costs just over a quarter ($0.26), every dollar can make a huge difference. Most of us are familiar with the verse in Luke 12:48, where we are told “To whom much is given, much will be required.” God continues to bless Trinity HOPE with “much”, and we understand He expects us to do “much” with those blessings. We take good stewardship very seriously and work hard at stretching every dollar as far as it can go. For the last five years an independent auditor has meticulously evaluated Trinity HOPE’s financial records and determined that over 95% of every dollar received goes to Program Costs, while less than 5% has gone to Administrative and Fundraising costs. Within the non-profit world, the standard to which most organizations shoot for is 80% Program costs. However, we know that with thousands of children on our waiting list, hoping to one day also receive a meal at school, 80% is simply not good enough. God deserves better and through many dedicated volunteers and a focused effort on efficiency, He has blessed us with the ability to keep our operating expenses to a minimum. Thanks be to God!
We are pleased to announce that Trinity HOPE has now also been evaluated by Charity Navigator, the largest and most-utilized independent charity evaluator in America. They evaluate non-profits on financial health, accountability, and transparency. We received a score of 97.1, resulting in a 4-Star rating, the highest rating available.
If you would like to learn more about Charity Navigator’s findings, go to their website (www.charitynavigator.org) and enter “Trinity HOPE” in the Charity Search box. If you would like to learn more about Trinity HOPE, please visit our website at www.trinityhope.org. As we all strive to be good stewards with the gifts and talents we have been given, may we always remember the words in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”. Thank you for your continued support of Trinity HOPE and God’s Blessings to each of you.
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