June 2011

Dear Friends,

We are helping to feed, clothe and educate orphaned and vulnerable children on three continents. We are supporting and empowering women with the tools they need for their families and communities, we are providing medical care and food supplements to the most vulnerable, we are helping them build sustainable agriculture, and we are supporting vocational training and business development. In India and Africa, this patient long-term development is the model that actually works.

At home we are facing an uphill battle in a down economy feeding impoverished people in a rural area near Florida’s Atlantic coast, just a few miles from some of the richest zip codes in America. In the past year, Florida’s unemployment rate has jumped from eight percent to over 12 percent, well above the already dismal national average. A Census Bureau report recently released found the percentage of Americans now living in poverty rose to 14.3 percent in 2009, the highest in decades.

The River Fund was started as an AIDS organization, and we have never lost sight of how AIDS impacts the very different populations we serve. Having just returned from the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS in NYC we know there is much to celebrate and yet so much more to be done. There are more than 33 million people living with AIDS, over 22 million in sub-Saharan Africa. In India, children orphaned by AIDS have less chance of obtaining an education and getting access to healthcare. Children are often turned away from schools, clinics and even orphanages because they or their family members are HIV-positive. There are many thousands of new infections every day. The global financial crisis is severely affecting HIV/AIDS work everywhere. There are at least 15 million people around the world in urgent need of treatment.

This is the background to all we do. Thank you so much to the many people who have faithfully supported our work. We realize that this year may be harder on you than usual; and yet, we still need your help.

Love, Jaya

“Here at home, poverty is a single mom trying to keep food on the table. In Africa, poverty is a 14-year-old orphaned head-of-household trying to find fresh water for himself and his siblings. The challenge isn't to choose one over the other. The task is to view two harsh realities through a common lens of compassion and assistance.” Mark Hanlon, Senior Vice President, USA, Compassion International

• $8000 — Adds a third floor to our Little Hearts Orphanage in India.
• $5000 — Builds a home for orphaned children in a rural African community.
• $2500 — Builds a traditional well to provide clean water for a village.
• $1000 — Provides bed nets for a village to protect against malaria.
• $500 — Funds a 3 day workshop training rural women as peer educators and community leaders.
• $250 — Rents a tractor for spring plowing for the organic farming village of RARUDO, Uganda.
• $100 — Provides nutritious lunch to 300 needy and elderly in rural Florida / FEED EVERYONE.
• $75  — Buys a quality dairy goat which is given to child headed households.
• $50 — Supplies Holiday gifts and party for 10 children in rural Florida.
• $35 — Places a dozen baby chicks with an African household for eggs and income.
• $25 — Supports one Indian orphan with food, shelter, education in a loving home for one month.
• $15 — Gives backpacks filled with supplies to 3 school aged children in Florida.

State of Florida Registration: CH5279
A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.