December 17, 2005

Growing, Making More of a Difference All the Time,
Orphans International Draws Island Participation

Roosevelt Islanders have taken Orphans International to heart.

The Island-based charity held its fourth annual benefit at the Harvard Club during Thanksgiving week, and many Roosevelt Island residents in attendance signed up to sponsor children in OI Houses around the world. Somewhat like the Icla da Silva Foundation, which matches bone-marrow donors with leukemia sufferers, OI has become "a Roosevelt Island thing."

The "Roosevelt Island Group" and the Island-based "Con Brio Group" sponsor ten-year-old Abigaëlle, in Haiti. In Sumatera (the new official spelling of Sumatra), home of Roosevelt Island House, Grodzins House, Lena Lutz House, and Luce House, where every child is a tsunami orphan, eight-year-old Rizky is also sponsored by the Roosevelt Island Group. Ten-year-olds Dina and Rahmi are sponsored by Nina Winteringham. The children and staff of PS/IS217 also sponsor a child, ten-year-old Ishaq.

Each orphan needs up to four sponsors at $600 each. To make participation affordable, people have banded together in groups of up to six to sponsor children, sharing the cost. Group leaders handle the affairs of each group.

But solo sponsorship is also a popular way to contribute. Doris Chernik of Toastmasters sponsors six-year-old Bernadine, and Residents Association Common Council member Ethel Romm sponsors twelve-year-old Rose Nancy – both in Haiti. Residents Association Vice President Margie Smith sponsors second-grader Veila in the Celebes Islands, today’s Sulawesi.

Other Island sponsors include Claude Lestelle, Ron and Marilyn Walter, City Council member-elect Jessica Lappin, and a member of Jessica Lappin’s family.

The motto of Orphans International is "Raising Global Citizens." Founder Jim Luce, an Eastwood resident, has set forth a goal of staying with a child into his or her college years. "By sponsoring OI children, my neighbors on Roosevelt Island provide immediate aid to some of the world’s most disadvantaged children," Luce says. "More than that, they are helping develop a child through education and vocational opportunities."

Sponsorship funds are used to cover food, housing, clothing, houseparent, medical, and educational expenses, as well as recreation, local administration, and college scholarships and microfinance credit for graduates.

Rivercross resident Bonnie Goodman is OI’s Sponsorship Director. She can be contacted via e-mail: Bonnie@oiww.org.

In Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Roosevelt Island House is being built with funds raised by the Residents Assocation at a benefit concert last year, and by an auction of art donated by artist members of the Roosevelt Island Visual Artists Association (RIVAA). It features the Armida Heimerdinger Boys’ Room, named for the late Rivercross resident (mother of Linda Heimer, an Island activist and WIRE proofreader), and a Girls’ Room named for Member of Congress Carolyn Maloney, who represents Roosevelt Island in Washington.

Jim Luce, Roosevelt Island resident, president and founder of Orphans International, encourages any Island organization that would like to do fundraising to contact him at jim@oiww.org.

In Sumatera, at the Princess Grace Home for Tsunami Orphans, the campus has a health clinic open to the community, and a multi-function classroom. (The Chair of OI Worldwide’s Global Advisory Board is HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.) A satellite-linked computer clinic is being opened with contributions from corporations such as CNN/Jakarta. Air France, Singapore Airlines, and China Airlines have provided transportation to OI staff and volunteers.

Orphans International America has received bi-partisan support from leaders such as former president Bill Clinton, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, Governor George Pataki, as well as many New York City-based public officials. Assemblymember Pete Grannis spoke at the November benefit at the Harvard Club.

In Indonesia last month, the Acehenese Ministry of Social Affairs recognized OI’s work with tsunami orphans in Banda Aceh, along with that of UNICEF and Save the Children. Founded in 2001, OI America is designated as a 501(c)3 organization by the IRS and listed with the New York State Department of Charities.

Projects are also running in Sulawesi, Indonesia, and Gonaives, Haiti. Projects in formation include Romania, Togo, El Salvador, the Philippines, Peru, Ghana, the Dominican Republic, and Guyana. Future plans include working with AIDS orphans in both China and India. Each OI campus is working towards full programming for the orphaned children and the village community with classes for English, computer science, and a strong emphasis on the arts.

Islanders and Island groups interested in joining in sponsorship of OI orphans can contact founder Jim Luce at 212-755-7285 or via e-mail at jim@oiww.org. Contributions can be mailed to Orphans International at 540 Main Street #418, Roosevelt Island, NYC10044.