FAUSA supports:
Projects that benefit women and children
Our Annual Grant which focuses on work in the Americas
Education Awards and Development Grants programs of The FAWCO Foundation
A Note from the 3rd VP, Philanthropy
Wow! My second term as Director of Philanthropy has been busy and very eventful. I have continued to meet many wonderful people through FAUSA and enjoyed many of the activities thanks to the wonderful work of our Board and especially the Activities Director, Yolanda Henry. The new ‘Taste of FAUSA’ group has been a fun way of adding new recipes to my repertoire of meals and meeting monthly with other FAUSA members!
My husband and I returned from Brussels in 2019, and in 2020 my husband took a second interim position, so I was living alone in a new house! FAUSA came to my rescue during that time. I have always been involved in church philanthropy as my husband is a pastor, but the amount of good that FAUSA and its sister organizations accomplish is truly amazing. Since 2004, FAUSA has donated more than $283,000 which includes $167,500 to the FAWCO Foundation for Educational Awards, Development Grants, and money donated to individual projects from the FAUSA community, $38,000 for Target Projects 1-5, and $78,100 to our FAUSA Annual Grant program. We should all be proud of what FAUSA has accomplished in almost 25 years.
The other big change is a change in the position title from Director of Philanthropy to Third Vice President Philanthropy to reflect the changes that both FAWCO and The FAWCO Foundation have also made to emphasize the importance of philanthropy in our organizations.
We are all philanthropic in one way or another and, by becoming members of FAUSA, we are showing the world we CARE and are willing to SHARE. As I begin my last year leading FAUSA’s philanthropy and with a new title, as I have said before… together we can do great things!
Susan Frick, FAUSA 3rd VP, Philanthropy 2021-2023
The seeds of the FAUSA Philanthropic program were planted in 1997 with donations of backpacks filled with books and school supplies for children in Bogotá, Colombia. FAUSA’s philanthropy has evolved through the years to become a dedicated and reliable support for FAWCO and The FAWCO Foundation. In 2018, FAUSA was granted tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status to better enable our members and other supporters to donate to our causes.
2024-2025 FAUSA Grant Recipients
We are thrilled that, thanks to the generosity of our members, we have been able to increase our grants from $5000 each in the past two years to $10,000 each for 2024-2025.
ASCEND: Empowering and supporting Afghan women in Afghanistan, nominated by Stephanie Biery
Ascend Leadership Through Athletics is an international nonprofit dedicated to empowering young women through health, leadership training and community service, operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ascend has been supporting Afghan women since 2015. When the Taliban took over in 2021, Ascend was able to evacuate 134 participants, staff and their families to eight different countries. In 2023, it was able to re-establish its work despite severe restrictions. Ascend provides a safe space for women to develop as leaders, emphasizing mental resilience, physical health, civic engagement, mentorship, leadership, and environmental stewardship. Ascend has a robust alumnae program to keep graduates engaged and active as they pursue self-direction action, in a society that deprives its women of secondary education, health resources and employment.
The $10,000 grant will help approximately 280 program alumnae with six months of digital learning support to serve as a bridge for the alumnae to continue with training and access to mentors, peers and resources.
The project supports the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
- #3 Good Health & Well Being
- #4 Quality Education
- #5 Gender Equity
- #8 Decent Work & Economic Growth
- #10 Reduced Inequalities
Food4Kids- Nourished Kids 4 Nourished Minds in Long Beach CA, nominated by Janet Darrow
The Food4Kids program is a volunteer-run organization that helps provide weekend meals to the staggering 88.7% of Long Beach school children who live below the poverty line. Food Finders sources the food and administers Food4Kids’ packing of food boxes for the students and their families. Among the volunteers are disabled adults and special needs high school students who benefit from the opportunity for meaningful and consistent involvement.
The $10,000 grant will directly provide 8,197 meals at $1.22 per meal to food insecure students and their families over each weekend of the school year. When children go hungry over the weekend, they come to school on Monday hungry and unable to concentrate. Our donation will impact the children, families, schools, and the environment.
This project supports the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
- #1 No poverty
- #2 Zero Hunger
- #3 Good Health & Well Being
- #4 Quality Education
- #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
- #12 Responsible Consumption & Production
- #13 Climate Action
- #15 Life on Land, and
- #16 Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions.
The FAUSA Annual Grant
The following is a summary of previous projects supported by FAUSA.
- Refugee Assistance Alliance – South Florida 2023
- Tewa Women United: A’Gin Healthy Sexuality and Body Sovereignty - Braided Curriculum Project, northern New Mexico
- Beloved Bundles & Soft Interview Room, Ft. Worth TX
- Lamp for Haiti - Cité Soleil, Port-au- Prince 2021, 2022
- Veronica’s Voice - Kansas City, Kansas in 2019, 2020
- Operation Bootstrap Monduli, Tanzania - 2020
- Love People Not Pixels (now called Demand Disruption) - Houston, TX - 2020
- Pathways to Safety Internat'l (formerly American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center) Portland, OR - 2006, 2018
- Turning Point Suffragist Memorial in Lorton, VA - 2018
- Portlight Inclusive Disaster Strategies in Houston, Texas - 2017
- The Urban Farming Guys in Kansas City, MO - 2017
- 4 Girls Foundation in Long Beach, CA - 2016
- Friends of Paradies des Indiens, Inc in Haiti - 2015
- San Francisco Safe House in San Francisco, CA - 2014
- The Eleanor Roosevelt Girls’ Leadership Program - 2013
- Houston Rescue and Restore Coalition, Girls Prevention Program in Houston, Texas - 2011
- The Aleethia Foundation Secret Santa Program at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, MD - 2011
- El Maestro En Casa, a literacy program broadcast by Radio San Miguel in the Amazon region of northern Bolivia - 2009
- Kids Help Project (TFF/FAUSA) school bags for students in Bogata, Columbia - 2007
- Amazon Children's Foundation in Rireralta, Bolivia - 2006, 2008
- The FAWCO Millennium Goal Treated Malaria Net Project - 2005
- Estancia Fraternidad in Oaxaca, Mexico - 2004-2009
- The Johanna Cecilia School in Guyana - 2004
- The FAWCO Emergency Relief Fund
Recent FAUSA Supported FAWCO Development Grants
2024 Educating Women and Girls Worldwide Grant: $4,000 (made possible by FAUSA member Renuka Matthews)
Recipient: Kiwimbi Prep for Succes in Kenya. This grant aids Kiwimbi International to equip 8th graders in three rural Western Kenya schools with the math and English skills necessary for national exams, along with nutritious lunches.
2024 Hope for Education Grant: $4,000 (made possible by FAUSA member Michele Hendrikse Du Boise in honor of her parents)
Recipient: Tewa Women United: A’Gin Healthy Sexuality and Body Sovereignty - Braided Curriculum Project in New Mexico. The grant helps implement the culturally congruent and newly revised Weaving Courage curriculum for middle/ high school students, addressing issues of healthy decision making, consent, gender-based violence prevention, and suicide prevention.
Past FAUSA-supported Development Grants can be found at the end of this page, and on The FAWCO Foundation site.
Recent FAUSA Supported FAWCO Educational Awards
2024 FAUSA Skills Enhancement Award, $4000
Recipient: Deborah Lillian, member of AAWE Paris
Past FAUSA Educational Awards can be found here.
2023-2025 Current FAWCO Target Project
Awesome Blossoms: An Urban Farming Project, Edible Fresh Fields for Sustainable Life in the Slums, Nairobi, Kenya
This is an initiative taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit the negative impacts of climate change. FAUSA has already been credited with over $5000 in donations to this new Target Project.
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