Official Website of the Alaska SHARE Campaign
| The 2009 Alaska SHARE Campaign had a record breaking year! Raising over $405,000.00!! 1,103 donors participated for a participation rate of about 7.0%. Thanks to all Alaska State Employees who participated! |
Popular Links | |||||
|
"We Can Move Mountains" -PARADE Magazine article by actor Matt Damon "Tips for Raising Generous Children" "America's Poor Are Its Most Generous Givers" Department Coordinators Campaign Downloads  Success Story 1- Boys & Girls Club  Success Story 2- Global Impact Contact Us | |||||
video message - Governor Sean Parnell
audio message - Labor Commissioner Bishop (mp3 file)
 Parents struggle to provide the best for their children, but after being laid off, one mother could no longer afford to send her sons to the Boys and Girls Club Clubhouse. The two boys had grown accustomed to attending the after school programming provided by the Clubhouse, which included homework help, positive reinforcements, and play time with friends and staff. A short while after their mother was laid off, the boys’ father was incarcerated. As one might imagine, this sent the boys’ lives into a tailspin. Teachers began noticing markedly different behaviors from the brothers. They were acting out at school and their grades were suffering as they continued to spiral out of control.The school, the Office of Children Services, and the mother met to develop a game plan to help the boys get back on track. One of the main decisions made was to reenroll the boys into the Clubhouse so they could have the positive reinforcements they so desperately needed. After several weeks of regularly attending the Clubhouse, the boys’ grades began improving and their attitudes turned around. It seems the stability of the clubhouse was a necessary piece of the puzzle for the boys’ success. Without the help of the Boys and Girls Clubs, many children would be struggling in school, at home, and in their daily lives to find their way through the difficult time of childhood and young adulthood. Adolescents regularly take advantage of all the resources at the Boys and Girls Clubs in Alaska. |
 During the war, Monrovia, Liberia was more of a battlefield than a town. People hid in buildings, fled the country, and abandoned work. One of the casualties of Liberia's 14-year civil war, which ended in 2003, was the country’s agriculture. As farmers fled, the fields were tainted with bullets and blood. Liberians are working hard to rebuild their country and bury the past. It will take time before farmers can coax the soil to nurture new life, thus making food an expensive commodity.Although the rebuilding of the country may be a long, difficult process, there is help. Thanks to microloans from the American Refugee Committee (ARC), people like Kabh and Lopu are able to own their own businesses which sell dried fish, vegetables, potatoes, onions, and garlic at the local markets. In a place where people typically make $1 a day, foods such as potatoes are often considered a luxury item at $2 a piece. Some day that will not be the case, and the average person will be able to afford potatoes; but for now it remains a luxury. As her family's sole breadwinner, Kabh earns enough at the market to put her two children, her husband, and herself through school. At night, Kabh studies business and administration hoping to grow her business and become a wholesaler. Lopu's success also enables her to send her six children to school. Already a high school graduate, she attends business training through Liberty Finance, ARC’s Liberian microcredit institution, which will help her achieve the goal of growing with her business as well. Liberty Finance offers small loans of as little as $70 to help Liberians start their own businesses and rebuild their economy. Nearly all of the 3,000 loan recipients are women and Kabh and Lopu are just two of them. When the recipients repay a loan, they qualify for a larger one; Lopu is now on her fourth loan. Liberty Finance’s repayment rate is consistently above 95 percent, which is considered an outstanding repayment rate. Every year, Global Impact’s more than 50 member charities, including American Refugee Committee, touch more than 400 million lives worldwide through disaster relief, education, health training and economic programs that promote self-sufficiency. Your SHARE contributions support initiatives such as this throughout the world. |