First, choose a child to help. You can search by birth date, age, or country. Then in 10 days you'll receive your sponsorship Welcome Kit. Your kit includes a photo, more information about your sponsored child, and an introductory DVD with inspiring videos.

In six to eight weeks be watching the mail for your first letter from your sponsored child. Plus, once a year you'll receive an annual progress report that includes a new photo of your sponsored child.

Sponsorship helps children living in extreme poverty by giving them sustainable access to life-saving basics. The benefits you help provide will extend to each child's family, their community, and other children in need.

That's because World Vision plans and works alongside local leaders to help build healthy communities for children in the world's most impoverished places. World Vision partners with a sponsored child's community over the longterm to address critical needs — ultimately helping them lift themselves out of poverty.

You'll have the chance to build a one-to-one relationship with your sponsored child that could change both your lives through letters, photos, birthday cards, and more. "I know my sponsor," says Solange, an 11-year-old sponsored girl from Rwanda. "She writes me letters. I love her very much. She sponsors me because she loves me . . . it's good to be sponsored."

Every child sponsor receives:

• A welcome kit with a photo and information about your sponsored child plus an introductory DVD
• The opportunity to write and receive letters, send small packages and even email your child
• Annual progress reports
• Updated photos of your child

On average, every dollar donated by World Vision sponsors results in more than one dollar in assistance to help children. That's because our multiple funding sources — private cash gifts, government grants, and gifts-in-kind — allow us to leverage charitable donations effectively.