I have always avoided overseas children charities, not because I don’t think they are a worthy cause more because of the greed and corruption in most of the under privileged countries. In most of the larger charities only a small portion of your donation actually goes to your child. By the time the administration fees are taken out by the charity themselves and the money is passed through the governments of the under privileged country and whittled away by corruption and greed there is only a small amount left. Some charities only promise 10-15% of your money will go to the child, which I think is just insane. So I have avoided them and given to other charities like the Red Cross and more local based charities like the Salvation Army.

I have always been a big advocate for helping our fellow Australians. It always amazes me how many people were living below the poverty line while we were still sending millions of dollars in charity and aid overseas.

Today on www.news.com.au there was a great article about exactly this click here to see the article! The article stats that 12% of Australian Children – over 500,000 are living below the poverty line with no money for basic necessities – food, clothing, school books etc.

I remember in primary school especially, we had a few children who would come to school with no lunch and sometimes no shoes because their parents could not afford these basic needs. It is such a sad thing to think about and should not be something that happens in a “lucky” country like ours. Children are the truly innocent members of this world and deserve the best start in life and deserve to have their basic needs provided for.

There is a fabulous charity called A Start In Life. They are a non-profit organisation who support Australian children. Like other charities you can “adopt” a child and help them with basic needs from only $10 per week. The best part? 100% of your donation goes to the child you sponsor!

This is a charity I would really love to support!

Has anyone ever been a recipient of this charity or do you have experience being an under privileged child? I would love to hear your stories and some encouragement for other readers to help Australian children!

Jen xx