As parents of children adopted from the nation of Georgia, one of the most frequent questions we hear is, "How can I help the children who currently live in Georgian orphanages?" We have two answers:
- Monetary donations are needed to fund ongoing facility improvement, medical care, and purchases of supplies. These donations can be made through the Georgian Children's Project.
- Our members often sponsor other events and projects involving donations of specific items and purchase of products.
Below: Bread fresh from the traditional oven (in background)
Many projects involve coordination between several programs, agencies, and groups. For example, the Georgian Circle of Friends donated toys to the 2004 Medical Team, assembled by Hopscotch Adoptions and involving a number of medical universities, hospitals, and individuals. To be honest, we're more concerned with maximizing resources to help Georgian children than we are with protecting anyone's "turf." In that spirit, GCOF welcomes fundraising and project information from all legitimate sources.
Deciding How to Help
Robin Sizemore, Executive Director of Hopscotch Adoptions, Inc. shares some of the decision-making process that she uses:
I'm often asked about our process for determining the highest and best use of funding expenditures for the children in Georgia. Very often we have our own ideas of what makes sense and what we see as a priority in our giving choices. Given the fact that we don’t live in the institutions, nor do we have the capacity to know the priority of the needs of the children, we have a process by which we can best meet the needs of the greatest number of children and improve the quality of life overall. Some ideas make perfect sense in an "American world," where our needs are met well over what many could dream of in countries like Georgia. Some ideas make less sense at first glance.
That said, each trip to Georgia is partially devoted to the assessment of the orphanages, hospitals, and shelters. We tour and learn about the on-site needs of each institution. From that we ask each director to prioritize the list of needs (which are many) and attach a dollar figure to each. Then we determine what funding we have and how we can manage the most impact for the greatest number of kids. Not every director is a "winner" of funds; we look for the best use of limited dollars for overall quality of life improvement for the most kids.
We trust that the director knows the needs far better than any of us could assume. One year every director asked for shoes… it was the number-one priority request for all institutions that year, and it took precedence even over the food budget. Another year it was generators for heating. While the directors would greatly value other gifts -- for example, educational supplies -- the directors know that we have limited dollars, and they opt to request funding for the most pressing needs. Listening to the director, on behalf of the children, is the best possible way to ensure that we are doing the most for the kids.
For a safeguard in making sure funds are never misappropriated, we never give the directors a cash gift. To remove any sense of impropriety we personally purchase, deliver, and install gifts or directly pay the contractors for the work. Upon every return visit, each director is eager to show us how the gift is still providing children with an improved life.
Batumi Baby House, below 
GCOF member Brenda Smith adds:
I was privileged to accompany Robin to Tbilisi in March, and I sat in on a few of the meetings with the directors. Those meetings were truly incredible. The sincere pleasure with which we were welcomed, the moving descriptions of the impact of the previous donations, the personal words of gratitude - they were all so heartfelt that I was moved to tears each time. The director of the baby house actually said 'Because of you, this was the first winter that the babies were warm enough.' It made the conversations about the next set of priorities come to life in a totally different way for me. Their words were about electrical repairs, paint, and formula, but what they were REALLY talking about was a better quality of life for the children and their dedicated caretakers.
New cabinets in Tskhneti Orphanage, left
