We are excited to have launched a new DAS Gives video series for charities that are near and dear to our employee-owners hearts. Our goal with the video series is to capture the spirit of generosity for which this company is so well known. We want to be able to tell these charities stories and to help them establish a true emotional connection with others.
Here is Hearts and Hope for Uganda story:
The why:
The why of our organization has always been because more than anything, relationships change lives. Anyone can send over a check, but to change the life of a child, whether in Uganda or in the neighborhood, they must feel like someone has their back, loves them and is rooting for their success.
Hearts & Hope works to transform lives of impoverished children in Uganda by setting up these relationships between them and people in the US who are looking to help others, while also forming a personal bond with the child they are helping. Were not just about giving handouts, we were more focused on giving these students a hand up. Letting them know that someone far away whom they’ve never met, knows them, knows their potential, and is willing to support their chance to better their life.
How the organization was started:
This organization was started by two individuals who went to Uganda with their church, saw the living conditions of the children and families, and it broke their hearts. The church was doing great work, but they envisioned the potential impact that a sponsorship program could bring in not just one village, but many villages across Uganda. They saw the stark difference between the kids and communities that had relationships with people on the outside, supporting them and letting them know that people cared compared to the communities that were isolated, without support, and were hopeless in their poverty.
Ultimately, this organization was started to help people help people, in a very personal way.
How its changing the community:
We are changing our community with education on the reality of poverty in the world and giving others around us the opportunity for a life giving and life changing relationship with a child who desperately needs a chance to lift themselves out of a very difficult life. The definition of community is a feeling of fellowship with others, because of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.
The community of Hearts & Hope connects people with each other and although Uganda is 8,000 miles away, sponsors in the US learn quickly that there is so much more that binds us together than keeps us apart. We work to create a community that spans oceans and cultures by fostering relationships that bring about incredible transformation.
We also take people to Uganda, which those people then bring Uganda home to their own backyards, they see with more compassion those that are in need and perhaps focus less on material goods and a consumerist attitude that grips modern American life.
How does it make you feel to be a part of something like this?
We are merely helping people who, though the world sees them as poor, are so rich in joy and love. We feel like we were given so much more than the money we give to support the education of the kids we sponsor. We feel honored and excited to share just how amazing the sponsorship relationship is.
What do you want others to know about your organization?
We are small, we love what we do, we are all about developing personal relationships!
