The President's Message

It is an honor to share with you Firelight Foundation’s first annual report, covering our first four years of operation, 2000 through 2003.

My husband, David Katz, and I established the Firelight Foundation in December 1999 with the mission to support children who struggle to grow up in the face of hardship. We have focused our giving on children orphaned and affected by AIDS in Africa, because the need is so great. In the past decade, HIV/AIDS has posed unprecedented hardship on African children and families. Of the over 13 million children who have been orphaned by AIDS globally, 90% live in Sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS has robbed an overwhelming number of children of their parents, their homes, their education, and their future. The statistics are staggering. The individual stories behind the numbers are heartbreaking. Yet this situation, which many have called the moral crisis of our time, is far from hopeless.

How do you even begin to make a difference when faced with something as overwhelming as the global impact of AIDS? The single most important lesson that we have learned is to never underestimate the power of small grants given at the grassroots level. In four years, the Firelight Foundation has awarded 173 grants to 120 community-based organizations serving children made vulnerable by AIDS in 12 African countries.

In the following pages, you will read about the vital services that these organizations provide, including ensuring children’s access to education, to psychosocial support and to family care, assisting caregivers with income-generating activities, and providing HIV/AIDS prevention education. We have also awarded grants to institutions and residential-care settings that are serving especially vulnerable populations – HIV-positive infants and street children – while assisting these organizations in their efforts to strengthen their ties to the community. We fund organizations that create their own solutions within their own communities.

We believe that effective grantmaking is a balance between responsible risk-taking, informed choices, and an underlying respect for community ownership and the local context.

Firelight’s success as a grantmaker has been made possible through the efforts of a dedicated team of individuals – our Director Jennifer Astone and the entire Firelight staff, our international Advisory Board, our volunteers, and our donors. In the past year, generous donor support has greatly increased our giving. Most importantly, every dollar invested by Firelight is more than matched by the tremendous dedication and commitment of the individuals and groups who are working each day as the frontline response to AIDS. We hope that you will be inspired by the stories of hope and action that we share with you here.

We offer our most heartfelt thanks to all those who have joined Firelight in making a difference in the fight against AIDS and its effects on children and their families. We can think of no greater investment than supporting communities in their efforts to ensure that children are provided with the security, education, love, and support that every child deserves.

In appreciation,

Kerry Olson, Ph.D. – President and Founder