BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A Western New York group is working to help kids and orphans across the world, and they're hoping you can help.
International Child Advancement is a non-profit based in Buffalo that supports an orphanage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Right now thousands of people living near the orphanage in the City of Goma are living in makeshift camps after being forced out of their homes.
Evelyn Kessler is the founder and Executive Director of International Child Advancement. For years, the group has helped orphaned and underprivileged children in the DRC become self-sufficient through education and vocations. She says in recent months, there's been a lot of conflict because of a rebel group in the area. The group seized a number of towns and villages in the country, and Kessler says many people have been forced from their homes, and a number of children orphaned. She says right now her group is helping support an additional 120 children who are living near the orphanage.
International Child Advancement is raising money to send to the area to provide these kids with food, water, and shelter. She says she wants Western New Yorkers to know they can help, even though the country is so far away.
"What I like to say - we're a global society. And we're impacted now in some shape or form by what is going on beyond our town, our city, the U.S. We will be bringing food to these children. Clothing, food, you'll see the tents they're living in - and if we raise enough we can buy sleeping bags and whatever else they need," she explained.
Kessler says the camps have no running water, and are overcrowded, which can be a breeding ground for disease.
If you'd like to learn more about International Child Advancement, or help donate to the cause, you can visit their website.
