The World Orphan Fund

Home
United States
Randolph, WI
The World Orphan Fund

Call Directions Website Contact the organization

The World Orphan Fund provides funding to orphans and those who care for them. With no staff or overhead, 100% of donations directly benefit orphans.

The World Orphan Fund is an all-volunteer charity where 100% of donations are spent directly on behalf of emergency and transformational funding for orphans around the world. Programs include wells and clean water, medical care, vocational training, housing/therapy for special needs children (both mental and physical), teachers, medical equipment/surgeries and transition programs. Visit www.theworldorphanfund.org to learn about our work.

10/09/2026

In the Ukrainian city of Izium, children know what to do when the air-raid sirens sound. They put down their crayons, leave their games, and hurry into a stairwell. One day, they did it four times in three hours.

They have learned to recognize the sounds of war before so many of the ordinary things of childhood. Across Ukraine, an entire generation is growing up this way.

One in five Ukrainian children has lost a close relative or friend since Russia's full-scale invasion. More than a million children grieving someone they loved.

Some have lost fathers on the battlefield. Others have watched their homes destroyed or fled communities they may never see again. And the wounds aren't always visible.

A child who has lost a parent may become angry or withdrawn. One who has survived bombardment may struggle to sleep, trust, or feel safe. Some are too young to understand what happened to them, but old enough to carry the trauma.

These are the children we are trying to help.

On November 28, our World Orphan Fund team returns to Ukraine for nine days of training in Zhovkva and Lviv.

We will work with psychologists, social workers, and support staff from some of Ukraine's hardest-hit regions, helping equip those who care for children struggling with grief, fear, and trauma.

With this training, we will have reached 250 Ukrainian professionals working to help these children heal.

For the first time, we will also work directly with foster parents in Lviv, supporting Ukraine's transition from institutional orphanages to family-based care. These families need the tools to help children who have experienced unimaginable loss feel safe, loved, and secure again.

Childhood should be a time of discovery, laughter, friendships, and the security of knowing someone will always be there.

For too many Ukrainian children, it has instead been a time of fear, separation, and loss.

We cannot give these children back the years they have lost. But we can help them heal, giving those who care for them the tools to rebuild their trust, restore their sense of safety, and help them find joy again.

And that is why we are going back.

10/02/2026

Eight months ago, this was Mama Ngina Children’s Home in Kisumu, Kenya.

The building was burning.

The fire had broken out in the upper floor of the children’s dormitory. By the grace of God, all 58 children got out safely. But their home was badly damaged, their belongings were gone, and the children had to be moved to temporary shelter.

Within hours, our board at The World Orphan Fund approved $5,000 in emergency assistance. We wired the money that day to our longtime partners at Manna Ministries and told them to use it where it was needed most.

Then the rebuilding began.

Over the months that followed, walls and rooms were repaired, the building was secured, and the home slowly began to look like a home again. When another $3,800 was needed to finish the floors, we stepped in again.

And this week, we received the photo on the right.

Same building.

No smoke. No flames. Fresh white walls. Scaffolding still standing. New floors going in.

There is more work to do. But 58 children are getting their home back.

Sometimes a Friday Photo doesn't need much explanation.

To our amazing donors, thank you. You make it possible for us to be the first in when children are in need, and to stay with them as they find their way home again.

09/25/2026

A month ago, the girls’ dormitory at Nuru Orphans Centre in Tanzania caught fire.

All 43 children and their caregivers were safe. That was the first thing we learned, and for a few minutes, the only thing that mattered. Then came the pictures. The walls were still standing, but the dormitory was gutted. Both food storerooms burned. Twenty girls lost their room. That first night, they slept on borrowed mattresses on the floor of the babies’ dormitory.

And then people showed up.

Neighbors who don't have much themselves brought food, clothing and mattresses and helped clear the rubble. Within hours, we wired funds for emergency supplies.

And then World Orphan Fund board member Steve Donovan showed up. He put the word out among friends and donors in Hilton Head. In less than two weeks, $21,000 was raised to rebuild the dormitory and rewire the orphanage.

Chris Shively of Hilton Head, a retired commercial contractor, lent his expertise to help make sure the construction was done right.

One month later, just look at it.

The dormitory is ready for its new roof. And the community has stepped forward again, providing beds, curtains and cupboards. A carpenter is coming this week to measure for the cupboards.

One month ago, twenty girls slept on borrowed mattresses. Soon they will walk back into their room, with beds and cupboards provided by their neighbors.

No one person made this happen. At every step, someone stepped forward. People thousands of miles apart came together for twenty girls most will never meet.

There are times when God's hand is hard to miss.

09/18/2026

Mateo was two years old when he began therapy at our Walker Center in January. (We’ve changed his name to protect his privacy).

At the home, and during therapy, he did not respond when his name was called or when given instructions. He did not interact with other children or adults.

He had no functional language and wasn't yet babbling. He showed little interest in activities that would typically excite a child his age and could spend long periods playing with the same object.

His early development raised concerns about a possible autism spectrum profile.

But after just one month of targeted intervention, Mateo began producing sounds. He smiled. He made eye contact.

Eight months later, the change is remarkable.

Mateo now actively seeks out his therapy sessions with Rosario, his speech therapist. He tries to get her attention. He interacts with her and makes a conscious effort to vocalize. His cognitive development continues to advance.

There is still progress to be made. Mateo's vocabulary remains behind other children his age.

But without early intervention, Mateo's initial difficulties could have been mistaken for a more severe disability or led to a diagnosis that did not accurately reflect his abilities and potential. In Guatemala, that could have changed the course of his life, even putting him at risk of being placed in state institutional care.

Instead, Mateo was given time, therapy and the chance to develop.

Eight months ago, he didn't respond when someone called his name.

Today, he's finding his voice

09/12/2026

When we first visited Upendo Children's Home in Kitui, Kenya, the caregivers told us something difficult to forget.

Sometimes the children ate only once a day.

If no one arrived with food, they might wait until the following evening to eat again.

Upendo is home to 43 children in a poor, semi-arid part of Kenya. Pastor Canaan Ochieng and the caregivers were doing everything they could.

But some days, there simply wasn't enough food.
So we began helping.

Through our partners at Manna Ministries, The World Orphan Fund provided emergency food and helped restore regular meals at Upendo.

Since then, we have continued to walk alongside the home, providing beds, mattresses and mosquito nets for every child, along with clothing, shoes and other necessities.

But food remains one of the most basic needs. And for a home caring for 43 children, it is a need that returns every morning. Rice, beans, maize flour, cooking oil, milk and bread don't make for dramatic projects. But they mean children can eat without waiting for someone to arrive and wondering when the next meal will come.

Today, the children at Upendo are eating regularly. Their caregivers tell us they are healthier, their spirits are brighter, and the daily worry about where the next meal will come from has begun to ease.

Sometimes hope is as simple as that.

A full plate today. And another one tomorrow

08/28/2026

Wednesday morning, a text message arrived from Mary Himiri at Nuru Orphans Centre in Tanzania.

“Thanks GOD we rescued all the children and all caregivers. We are okay.”

Those were the words that mattered most.

A fire had swept through the girls' dormitory at Nuru, home to 43 abandoned and orphaned children. No child was hurt. No caregiver was hurt. But the dormitory was destroyed, along with both food storerooms and everything inside them.

We know Nuru well. We visited two years ago, when the children greeted us with singing and we spent the day holding babies and getting to know the people who care for them. Some of these children have lived at Nuru since infancy. Those without parents even take Nuru as their last name.

It is home.

Seven girls were there when the fire happened; thirteen others were away at school. That first night, the seven slept on mattresses borrowed from the boys' dormitory and laid on the floor of the babies' dormitory.

And there was no food.

Mary sent us a list: rice, maize, beans, cooking oil, flour, sardines, diapers, baby wipes and other basic necessities. The cost was $1,788.

Less than four hours after we learned about the fire, our board had approved emergency funding and the money was on its way to Tanzania.

Then something wonderful happened.

The people around Nuru began showing up.

A tuk tuk arrived carrying mattresses. Neighbors brought food and clothing. And then they went to work. By nightfall, every piece of rubble from the fire had been cleared away.

People who didn't have much themselves brought what they could, and did what they could.

The photographs Mary sent afterward looked very different from the ones she had sent that morning. There was still a dormitory to rebuild. But now there were mattresses. Bags and boxes of food. Piles of clothing. And where the rubble had been, there was a cleared space and a community surrounding these children.

And we learned something else. As we began looking at what caused the fire and what needed to happen next, it became clear that we shouldn't simply repair the damaged wiring. We need to make the entire orphanage safer.

So we are going to rewire all of Nuru.

The cost is just over $1,028.

There is still much more ahead. The girls' dormitory needs to be rebuilt. Twenty girls still need their room back.

But today the children are safe. They have food. They have mattresses and clothing. Their neighbors showed up for them.

And so did you.

Thank you for making it possible for us to be there when they need us most.

08/14/2026

What does it take to feed 58 children?

It takes 4,125 kilograms of beans, bought from families in the community and stacked in a storeroom to last the year. It takes 557 kilograms of maize, ground week by week into flour. It takes 62 loaves of bread and 15 trays of eggs in a single month. Cabbage, tomatoes, bananas, passion fruit, pineapple. Dried fish. Sixty kilograms of meat.

It takes a caregiver standing over a wood stove, stirring one more pot.

At St. Jude Children's Home in northern Uganda, that is the daily work behind caring for 58 children, 24 of them living with a physical or intellectual disability. St. Jude provides a home, education and medical care while its social workers work toward something even better whenever possible: finding a relative who can safely welcome a child back into a family.

But caring for children is about more than what goes into the storeroom or onto their plates.

In March, the children and their caregivers left St. Jude for a day together at a community park. They shared a meal, colored pictures, played and laughed.

For a day, there were no labels in these photographs. No disabilities. No children living in an institution. Just children surrounded by people who care for them, having the kind of day every child deserves.

Your giving helps put food on their plates every day. And every once in a while, it helps give them a day like this.

Thank you.

08/07/2026

Bumala, Kenya.

They burst into their newly renovated bedrooms and ran from bed to bed. They touched the fresh sheets, admired the bright walls, and couldn't stop smiling as they chose where they would sleep. The joy in the room was impossible to miss.

That's what happened at New Creation Children's Home after our partners at Manna Ministries completed the renovation with the support of World Orphan Fund donors. Worn, tired bedrooms were transformed into bright, welcoming spaces. New beds and mattresses replaced old ones, each made up with fresh sheets and a comfortable place to rest.

Watching the children, it was impossible not to smile. They weren't talking about the paint or the new furniture. They were simply overwhelmed that someone had prepared a room just for them.

Most of us take our bed for granted. We simply expect it to be there at the end of the day. But for children who have already endured more than any child should, a clean bed and a peaceful room mean so much more. They quietly say, You are loved. You matter. You are worth caring for.

As the excitement settled, everyone gathered around a hot meal together. It was a chance to celebrate not only the renovation, but the smiles that had filled those rooms all afternoon.

Tonight, those same children will climb into the beds they claimed with such excitement.

What began with laughter will end with peaceful sleep.

Thank you for making that possible.

07/31/2026

In Honduras, existing on paper isn't guaranteed.

Our Youth for Honduras program prepares young people for adulthood through a national life-skills curriculum, post-high-school scholarships and mentoring, and our I-Exist Initiative.

Many children who enter children's homes have no birth certificate. Without one, they can never get a national ID.

No ID means no access to education, legal employment, or healthcare. It can even mean jail time, because carrying identification is required by law. A routine traffic stop can turn into weeks of detention over paperwork that was never the child's responsibility in the first place.

Through I-Exist, we're helping change that. The three siblings above just received their official identification. For the first time, doors to education, healthcare, employment, and so much more are finally open to them. Just as importantly, we’re working directly alongside the Honduran government to help fix the system itself, so fewer children will face these barriers in the years ahead.

Every child matters. Every child deserves to exist, not just in spirit, but in the eyes of the law. Because identity is more than a piece of paper. It’s the first step toward a future filled with dignity, opportunity, and hope.

Thanks to our amazing donors who make programs like this possible.

07/24/2026

One of the greatest privileges of our work is that, every once in a while, we get to celebrate a story reaching its next chapter.

This month, in Guatemala, the Arreola family completed three years in our Walker Center's Adoptive Family Support Program.
At the heart of this story is one remarkable decision. Alongside their two biological daughters, they welcomed four girls who had once faced the very real possibility of growing up in an institution instead of a home.

Love was always there. But love alone isn't always enough to heal the wounds trauma leaves behind.

Over the past three years, the Walker Center's psychologists and therapists walked alongside this family as they learned to understand trauma, strengthen emotional connections, navigate difficult behaviors, and discover the simple joy of being together as a family.

Today, four girls who once faced an uncertain future are growing up surrounded by parents who have made a lifetime commitment to them.

One story, in particular, reminded us just how much hope can change a life.

Before Zaida joined the Arreola family, the Walker Center was already working with her while she was still living in a residential care home. She had hemiparesis that severely limited movement on the right side of her body. Many believed she would never walk.

Today, she is in school. She runs, plays, learns, and continues to overcome challenges that once seemed impossible.

That transformation belongs to many people: a little girl who kept fighting, parents who never stopped believing in her, Walker Center professionals who refused to give up, and our amazing donors who make it all possible.

Address

N7130 N Lost Lake Road
Randolph, WI
53956

Telephone

+16082358673

Website

http://theworldorphanfund.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The World Orphan Fund posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to The World Orphan Fund:

Want your organization to be the top-listed non profit organization in Randolph?