FSD Donor Update: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Dear Friends,

Our 2010 year-end campaign was a success. You helped us meet our goal of raising $10,000 to support essential community development projects at home and abroad. What you didn't know is what a big accomplishment this was for FSD—it was the most we had ever raised in a single campaign. And December 2010 was only a glimpse of what you—our family and friends—would accomplish in 2011. With your continued support this year, so far we’ve invested over $750,000 in pressing, locally driven initiatives around the world. Thank you for helping FSD to raise more awareness, reach more communities, and support more life-changing projects in 2011 than ever before.

Mary Ritter Beard said it best when she explained that, "the results of philanthropy are always beyond calculation." Indeed, there is no measuring stick for what food security means to newlyweds Rosa and Sebastian, parents of six in Bolivia—food security not from aid, but from learning the skills they need to produce nutritious, sustainable crops each year. Likewise, we cannot accurately compute the hope that Meena, a young mother in India, had when FSD introduced her alternatives to a life of hard labor in the dark stone mines; nor the joy that her daughter Laxmi gained on her first day at an educational center with other kids instead of in the toxic mines with her mom.

While the impact of your donation might be "beyond calculation," we hope that this infographic helps you to see that FSD is using your donation to bring people like Rosa and Sebastian, and Meena and Laxmi basic rights and human necessities, giving them the freedom to make choices that change their lives.

Click here to check out more Donor Updates from 2011. Past updates include stories, photos, and videos that capture the community development projects YOU helped make possible this year. And please know that, like the outcomes of our work, the value of your support is immeasurable.

Warm Wishes,

Mireille Cronin Mather
FSD Executive Director