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Kidsave was founded in 1997 by friends and business partners Terry Baugh and Randi Thompson with the goal of helping older orphaned and abandoned children find families.
Several years earlier, Terry had traveled to a Russian orphanage to adopt a child. She was not prepared for what she saw. The orphanage was a huge, cold institution with an insufficient number of caregivers for all of the children. Children with shaved heads were sitting in playpens with no toys, and no stimulation. The caregivers meant well, but there were so few of them for so many children. For months after her return home, Terry could not get their faces out of her mind.
Terry shared her experience with Randi, also an adoptive parent. While working on a project in Kazakhstan, Randi had visited an orphanage for older children who were considered “un-adoptable” and what she saw there was even worse. She saw 15 year old children about to age out of the orphanage to a life on their own. These were the children the world had truly forgotten – the ones with no hope for any kind of future.
Randi and Terry believed these children deserved a voice. They needed a second chance. These children needed a miracle. So Terry and Randi teamed up to make that miracle happen and founded Kidsave.
In the summer of 1999, Kidsave brought 177 children to the US, and 97% found permanent families. It was a miracle for these children, and for their families.
Ten years later, more than 2700 children have found parents and lasting connections with adults because of Kidsave programs. Thousand more orphans and children in foster care around the globe have parents and lasting connections because of our training and advocacy efforts.
Kidsave …Because every child needs a family.
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