Letter Project Information

 

  • Send a letter to us for your child ANYTIME.  We carry the letters into the countries by hand.  Your letter will be kept with the others until the next letter project.

  • Please do not have any address, email address, phone number, or any kind of contact information on or within the letter and envelope.  This is for your protection as well as the protection of the child.

  • The children love to receive photos of their sponsors, but please do not send any pictures of lightly clothed people, especially no swimwear or sleepwear.

  • Please use a regular-sized envelope or a card with a matching envelope.  Please enclose only items that will lie flat and allow the envelope to be sealed. If several of your children write or draw pictures, please put everything in one envelope.

  • Please do not send money, candy, or jewelry.

  • Letters sent by e-mail are welcome: sue@allowthechildren .org.  I am glad to print one or two pictures in color, but if you want to send more than that, I am grateful if they come by mail.

  • If it is difficult for you to write a letter, a colorful card with a short note (“Praying for you”) is enough to delight the child.

  • If you sponsor several children, one newsy letter with copies made for each is a good idea. I am glad to make the copies, envelope and label them if sent early, but it is difficult in the last few days before departure.

  • We do not see every child on every trip, especially those who live in remote areas.  The answer to your letter may return with me from this trip or it may not come until the next trip.

  • Some children never write, no matter how much we encourage and request it.  They are just too overwhelmed with the thought of writing to someone in America or they are too young and our partner has not found time to help them.  Please know that we try very hard to get a return letter to you.

  • If you signed your letter with only your first name, and did not put your full name on the outside of the envelope—we  may not be able to  match a return letter marked just “Lisa” (for example) back to you. 

  • If your (American) child writes the letter to your sponsored child, please put your name (the sponsor’s name) on the envelope as well. This is extra important if your child’s last name differs from yours.

  • If you put only the child’s first name and no ID# on the envelope, it may never have been successfully matched to him/her.  If YOUR name (the sponsor’s name) is on the envelope, I can look up your child, but first names only on the envelope and within the letter often becomes a time-consuming mystery.

  • If you receive a letter that was not translated, please return it and we will try to get it done for you.  The in-country partner may have missed one, expecting or assuming that your child is able to write in English which many do.

 

 Drop Box

For those of you for whom it is convenient, we have a locked drop box at our office, where you can leave sponsorship gifts or any donation, letters to your child, etc. 

Allow The Children

20883 Timberlake Road  

Lynchburg, VA 24502