You Can Help a Hungry Child

When you give Food Every Day, you not only help a child learn, play and grow — you help keep their family together.

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The post 30 Days of Full Bellies, Thanks to You appeared first on Holt International.

Sonith was just 4 years old when he started preschool in his small village in Cambodia. His family’s rice harvest only lasted half the year. During the other six months, they went without enough food…

Sonith felt the effects. He was tired, frail and often sick. But everything changed when Holt donors like you stepped in. Because of your support, Sonith began attending a Holt-supported preschool — a place where he could eat, learn and grow.

When he first arrived at school, he barely spoke. He kept to himself, missed days often, and his teachers worried. But slowly, things began to change.

To monitor his health and growth, Sonith received regular health checkups. He also received daily meals consisting of noodles, curry, porridge, fresh fruits and veggies. With each meal, he grew stronger and healthier.

Today, he’s thriving. He sings, plays games and even learned to play the trombone and flute. Sonith is now 5 and in first grade. He washes his hands before meals, brushes his teeth every night and attends school each day.

Once quiet and withdrawn, Sonith is now a confident and bright little boy!

Because of you, Sonith has the energy to learn, grow and chase his dreams.

Help Feed a Hungry Child at School

Your gift provides nourishing school meals that help a child stay focused, energized and ready to learn.

Give now

The post You Helped Him Grow Strong appeared first on Holt International.

During story time, a class of wiggly 3-year-olds listened attentively while their teacher held up a book with colorful illustrations. But sitting in the corner was Gian, his head in his hands, fast asleep.

A new student, Gian came to preschool regularly but struggled to participate. He looked thin and was often sick. But Gian sat up attentively in his chair when it was time to eat. Noticing this, his teachers made sure the school nurses monitored his health.

Like Gian, many children in the Philippines arrive at Holt-supported early education centers underweight and malnourished. But because of your support for school lunch, children around the world receive the nutritious meals they need to grow and thrive.

The children receive rice, protein, vegetables and fruit every day — meals carefully planned by licensed dietitians. The staff monitors each child’s height, weight and mental well-being. Parents also attend nutrition education trainings to support their children at home.

After just three months of receiving daily, balanced meals through his preschool, Gian looked like a completely different boy!  His weight normalized, and he became an active participant in class. His teacher even shares that Gian now leads story time with confidence and enthusiasm.

Your support to feed students at school ensures Gian and his classmates have what they need for a successful future!

Help Feed a Hungry Child at School

Your gift provides nourishing school meals that help a child stay focused, energized and ready to learn.

Give now

The post School Lunches Made Him a Leader appeared first on Holt International.

Introducing our new monthly giving community: Food Every Day!

Be the reason a child eats — for just 50 cents a day.

When you join Food Every Day, you become the reason a child gets to grow up healthy and strong — and in many cases, the reason they get to stay with their family.

Families living in poverty work hard to keep food on the table — but too often, it’s still not enough. And when crises like job loss, illness or drought strike, the need becomes even more urgent. Parents struggle to provide even the most basic necessity for their children: food every day.

For a child facing hunger, food isn’t just a meal — it’s a lifeline.

When you provide Food Every Day, you will:

Make a Lasting Difference — By extending your impact beyond a one-time gift, no child will ever wonder where their next meal will come from.

See Your Impact — Get monthly text and email updates about children who are thriving because of you!

Stay Connected — Receive our print newsletter featuring heartwarming stories and photos from around the world.

Give with Ease — Automatic contributions make giving smooth, ensuring no child is left waiting and hungry.

As a member of FED, you ensure a child has the daily meals they need to grow, learn and dream. You will nourish their mind and body, help them catch up in their development — and bring their joyful giggles back!

You Can Help a Hungry Child

When you give Food Every Day, you not only help a child learn, play and grow — you help keep their family together.

give food now

The post Giving Them Food Every Day appeared first on Holt International.

Every day, Dembe walks into preschool with a big, confident smile. She sits in her seat, focused and attentive as her teacher writes on the chalkboard. When it’s time for a meal, Dembe eagerly fills her tray with a banana, a boiled egg and a warm cup of porridge, sweetened with a touch of sugar. Healthy and strong, she smiles as she returns to her seat.

But it wasn’t always this way.

When Dembe first started attending preschool, she was quiet and tired. She often fell asleep during lessons and didn’t have the energy to walk to school, so her mom brought her by bicycle.

But as time went on, everything began to change. Receiving daily nutritious meals, she became energized, friendly and alert. She started looking forward to school — eager to go each morning.

“Her appetite greatly improved, even for other meals prepared at home,” her mom says.

Because of you, Dembe and other children in her class are able to attend preschool and receive a nutritious meal each day. Holt’s nutrition team selects the menu, ensuring the foods they eat will help them grow. For many children in Uganda, the meal you help provide is the only meal they can count on for the day.

For Dembe, that daily meal made all the difference.

Once a shy and tired little girl, Dembe became happy and engaged — one of the best students in her class.

Thanks to you, Dembe and her classmates are growing up healthy, strong and full of potential.

Help Feed a Hungry Child at School

Your gift provides nourishing school meals that help a child stay focused, energized and ready to learn.

Give now

The post A Meal and a Smile Every Day appeared first on Holt International.

Tselmuun is a 4-year-old girl who lives in Mongolia with her family. She was born with cerebral palsy, a condition that impairs her body movement, muscle tone and coordination. Tselmuun is small for her age and has trouble feeding herself and eating certain foods. But thanks to your generosity, she is now getting all the help she needs to grow and thrive!

These days, Tselmuun attends a wonderful daycare center near her home, where the staff has received Holt’s Child Nutrition Program training. Because of your support, the teachers have learned how to properly feed and nourish children with disabilities, as well as help them eat and drink on their own. While Tselmuun is in their care each day, her teachers ensure she gets balanced and nutritious meals to support her optimal growth and development.

Tselmuun enjoys going to daycare and engaging with the other children. She plays with toys and listens to music, often trying to sing along and move rhythmically. Even though she has trouble speaking, Tselmuun smiles and uses short phrases to express her joy and happiness.

Tselmuun shares a strong emotional bond with her family members, who provide her with consistent love and care. Both she and her family are grateful for all the support Tselmuun receives from her sponsors, and to thank them, Tselmuun created a colorful finger painting!

Become a Child Sponsor

Connect with a child. Provide for their needs. Share your heart for $43 per month.

sponsor now!

The post Tselmuun Is Growing Strong, Thanks to You! appeared first on Holt International.

But hunger is also one of the biggest needs Holt donors help meet.

Your gift to help feed a hungry child can look several different ways in the field. But by whatever means, you help meet children exactly where they are — rushing food to them in the moment they need it most.

Here are 5 ways you help feed children around the world!

1. Emergency Food Delivery

For families already living in poverty, all it takes is one crisis to send them over the edge. Whether it’s a natural disaster, a lost job or moving to a new city, this can be all it takes to cause children to skip meals, or even go days without food. For these children and families, the help you give is immediate. Holt’s on-the-ground staff and partners quickly deliver food and other immediate essentials to families in urgent need.

2. Free School Lunch

So many kids show up to class with empty stomachs and nothing to eat. But hunger pains make learning extremely difficult. That’s why you help provide free school lunches to Holt-supported schools and daycares! For so many children, this is the only regular meal they receive each day, which makes it so important! Our staff around the world ensure that these meals are nutritious and filling — often including whole grains, milk, hard-boiled eggs and more.

3. Formula for Babies

The first months and years of a child’s life are so critical. It’s when their brains and bodies grow exponentially, setting the trajectory for the rest of their lives. That’s why nutrition during this time is so important. But this becomes difficult for babies in orphanage or foster care, or the babies of families living in poverty. That’s why you provide them with nutrient-rich infant formula. You help to ensure that no matter their difficult situation, they receive the nutrients — and the chance — to grow healthy and strong.

4. Gardening

One of the most sustainable and empowering ways to feed a child and their family is to teach them to grow food themselves! That’s why in places like Thailand, Vietnam and Ethiopia, you give families the tools and training they need to grow a garden. Whether it’s a “kitchen garden” of composted food scraps and small pots on urban windowsills, or larger garden plots in rural areas, so many families can now feed their children with fresh garden fruits and vegetables. Equipped with buckets, fertilizer and garden seeds, children and parents can enjoy gardening together. Even more, when families grow their own produce, they have nourishing food to feed their children. And they can sell any surplus in the marketplace — generating additional income to support themselves.

5. Livestock

A goat or cow or chickens might seem like a strange gift to give a family living in poverty, but a gift like this can absolutely change their life! Raising livestock can provide a family with fresh milk, cheese, eggs and meat — all critical protein for growing kids. Livestock can even provide fertilizer for a family’s  garden, and any excess food or animal offspring can be sold for a profit. Your gift of livestock to a child and their family prevents malnutrition for years to come.

You Can Help a Hungry Child

When you give Food Every Day, you not only help a child learn, play and grow — you help keep their family together.

give food now

The post 5 Ways You Feed Hungry Children appeared first on Holt International.

When Liên was a little girl, her mother would carry her from street to street, asking passersby for coins and food scraps.

At night, Liên shivered — sleeping with only a thin piece of cloth to keep warm…

Her mother, who had intellectual disabilities, loved Liên deeply and did everything she could to care for her. But her own challenges made it difficult to meet Liên’s complex needs. Living on the streets of a coastal city in Vietnam, sometimes selling lottery tickets or trinkets, she wasn’t earning enough income to meet even basic needs — let alone specialized care for her daughter.

Liên could walk and manage basic hygiene, but she struggled to communicate and learn like other children her age. Her mother felt overwhelmed by her limitations and unsure how to provide the care her daughter needed.

Recognizing the difficulty of the situation, compassionate neighbors suggested that Liên might receive the help she needed at a children’s center. While it meant that she would no longer live with her mother, moving Liên away from the harsh realities of street life gave her the possibility of a safer, more hopeful future.

A New Chapter

When she arrived at the children’s center, Liên was welcomed with open arms by a team of dedicated caregivers.

With expertise in nutrition and health, special needs and child development, Liên’s caregivers could provide the care and support she needed to grow and develop. They identified her unique challenges and began creating a tailored care plan that focused on her health and building basic life skills.

One of the first steps of Liên’s new journey was supporting her physical health. Regular health screenings became part of her routine. The center’s medical staff conducted nutritional assessments to ensure she was receiving the necessary vitamins to support her growth and overall well-being. These assessments are crucial for early intervention — addressing health conditions such as anemia and other deficiencies.

Through the center’s partnership with Holt Vietnam, caregivers are trained in feeding techniques, monitoring health benchmarks and creating daily routines and activities for children with disabilities. Because of donor support for the Molly Holt Fund, these trainings are made possible, and children receive the specialized, nurturing care they need to thrive.

Safe and Supported

After living on the streets, Liên’s adjustment to life at the children’s center took time. In the early days, she was content to be alone, sitting in the corner and taking little interest in the activities around her. She seemed focused on her interior world, occasionally watching other children play.

Liên’s caregivers were patient, knowing that she needed time to feel safe, secure and comfortable in her new environment.

Slowly, with gentle encouragement and reassurance, she began to show signs of progress. Liên practiced feeding herself — first with finger foods, then with utensils. She struggled, often spilling food, but her caregivers knew that Liên needed to learn at her own pace.

Over time, she became more adept at holding a spoon and fork. Not only could she start eating without assistance, but she also began to grow in confidence.

Liên was also shown how to dress herself. And with time, she learned how to dress independently. She learned how to zip her jacket and tie her shoelaces — significant achievements for children with special needs.

Growing in Confidence

Liên’s progress with self-care was transformational, but she often distanced herself from the other children. She would sit quietly during group activities, occasionally glancing at her peers but not engaging with them.

Eager to help Liên connect with others her age, her caregivers remained optimistic and patient. They continued to involve her in simple group activities, such as drawing, coloring and singing.

Slowly, Liên began to engage with other children. As she began to feel more comfortable, she grew in her social confidence each day. Soon she started to join in activities without hesitation and even began to initiate simple conversations with her peers.

But Liên’s ability to communicate and express her emotions was limited. Her caregivers encouraged her to express herself in different ways — through art, music and movement.

Ms. Thuy, one of Liên’s primary caregivers, says she is hopeful for Liên’s future.

“[Liên] is a fighter,” Ms. Thuy says. “Every step forward is hard-won, but she never gives up. I see so much potential in her and we are committed to helping her discover it.”

Helping Her Shine

Today, Liên is 11 years old, and she continues to grow each day.

The caregivers at the children’s center remain her biggest supporters, cheering her on with each victory.

“She has shown us all what true resilience looks like,” Ms. Thuy says. “Every child deserves a chance to shine and [Liên] is shining in her way. We are honored to be part of her story.”

Every child’s path is different, and Liên’s path is uniquely hers — and it’s one paved with hope because of your help.

Making a Difference

It is through the continuous support of sponsors and donors like you that Liên is receiving the specialized care she needs to thrive.

But while she continues to receive support and make progress, many children like Liên are still waiting — left without the opportunities and care they deserve. Her story is not an isolated one — it reflects a broader challenge faced by children with disabilities in the places where Holt works.

Private special needs programs, when available, are financially out of reach for orphaned and vulnerable children, whether they live in an orphanage or with their families struggling in poverty.

You can help children with medical and special needs who are left with no other options. Donate today to help provide care, healing and hope for a brighter future.

Your gift will help provide medical treatments, surgeries, specialized feeding assistance, therapies, adaptive equipment like wheelchairs, special education and so much more.

Every child deserves compassionate care that reminds them they are deeply loved and valued. Together, we can bring lasting change for children like Liên and help them shine.

Give to the Molly Holt Fund

Your gift helps a child with special needs receive the surgery, medicines, and specialized care they need!

Help a child now

The post Helping Liên Shine appeared first on Holt International.

Chuluunchimeg is a 2-year-old boy who lives in Mongolia with his parents and older sister. Born with a serious medical condition, Chuka — as he is known to his family and caregivers — is small for his age, has developmental delays and requires constant care and attention. His mother stays at home to look after him, while his father takes on any work he can find.

Because Chuka’s family does not have a stable income, they rely on the generosity of Holt sponsors to provide for his needs. Through your support, Chuka receives speech therapy and other specialized treatments, medication and nutritious meals. He also travels to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, for regular health checkups.

Chuka is close to his mother and likes to be hugged. She holds him close to her chest when she feeds him. Chuka grows happy when he is fed his favorite foods — bananas, creamy soups and rice with milk. Though Chuka is unable to speak, he communicates with his eyes to show affection toward his family.

To thank Chuka’s sponsors for their support, his older sister sent this photo and letter on her brother’s behalf:

Hello! Greetings of the day when this letter reaches you. Thank you very much for supporting my cute little brother. My little brother got milk, yogurt, clothes and many other necessary things. I am sincerely grateful for [you] supporting my little brother.

Become a Child Sponsor

Connect with a child. Provide for their needs. Share your heart for $43 per month.

sponsor now!

The post Thank You for Supporting My Little Brother! appeared first on Holt International.

Your generosity helps children all around the world receive the nurturing care and support they need to grow and thrive.

Last year, your gifts provided essential healthcare and met critical medical needs — including lifesaving surgeries — for over 131,900 children. You also helped provide specialized care and support for 2,280 children with disabilities who are living in orphanages or in poverty with their families. None of this would have been possible without your compassionate heart for children in need.

Whether it’s life-changing medical treatments for conditions like cleft lip and palate or congenital heart disease — or specialized feeding assistance, therapies or special education for children with special needs — your gifts make a powerful difference! Every child deserves compassionate care that reminds them they are deeply loved and valued. Thank you for seeing these children, and for providing the vital care they need.

Here are just a few of the children you’ve helped care for over the past 10 years!

Feeding Support for Jin in China

See Jin’s progress in the video below!

Surgery and Therapy for Arban in Mongolia

Heart Surgery for Luli in China

Physical Therapy for Jolie in Mongolia

Cleft Lip Surgery for Rebekah in China

Disability Support for Giang in Vietnam

Deworming Medication for Kissa in Uganda

Heart Surgery for Lai in China

Carrying on Molly’s Legacy

Just as Molly gave her life “to the things that she loves with her whole heart,” we’re so grateful you share her heart for children with special needs.

To continue Molly’s selfless legacy, send a gift to the Molly Holt Fund today to make a lasting impact on the life of a child with special needs!

Give to the Molly Holt Fund

Your gift helps a child with special needs receive the surgery, medicines, and specialized care they need!

Help a child now

The post Each Child Seen and Loved appeared first on Holt International.