Annual Report 2017
Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation (AORF)
1952 Whitney Ave. 3rd Floor
Hamden, CT 0651
Mission and Programs
The mission of the Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation is to provide orphans and other at risk children, around the globe and in Connecticut, with proper healthcare, nutrition and wellness treatments that would otherwise be unavailable. AORF has two arms: 1) a product delivery arm that delivers medicines, medical supplies, wellness and personal hygiene supplies, and nutritional products to orphans and other impoverished children and their families around the world, and 2) a food assistance arm that provides weekend food to food insecure Connecticut school children (and their families) through school-based programs.
In 2017 we delivered medical and wellness products to organizations in four countries: Poland, Philippines, Ukraine, USA (Kentucky). A total of $1,228,701.31 worth of products were distributed. Polish organizations received $110,128.81 worth of products; $588,362.82 in products went to organizations in the Philippines; $589,511.28 in products went to organizations in Ukraine; and $734.40 went to Kentucky.
Our school-based weekend food programs in Connecticut, begun in 2015, are undertaken with our partner, The John J. Dricoll United Labor Agency in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. By the end of 2017, were involved in four state schools: SAND School in Hartford, the Church Street School in Hamden, the Charles F. Hayden Day School a Boys & Girls School in Milford, and the John C. Daniels Interdistrict Magnet School in New Haven. In these schools we are currently delivering food to 197 individuals (78 schoolchildren, 43 other children, and 76 adults) every weekend school is in session. This program is designed to help food insecure school children during one of times that they are most vulnerable to hunger: weekends. Although food insecure schoolchildren have access to free or reduced-cost meals at school, food insecure families struggle to feed their family members over weekends and summers. Nearly 1 in 5 children in our state live in families that cannot consistently provide adequate and nourishing food sufficient to sustain their children. AORF is committed to trying to address this problem in our state.
Successes
In addition to distributing over $1M in medicines, medical supplies and wellness products internationally in 2017, we received grants and donations to fund our food programs totaling $14,001.00 from the following organizations: Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, Red Sox Foundation, Maximus Foundation, Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Ethel and Abe Lapides Foundation, Stop & Shop, Big Y, Trader Joe’s, and Merrill Lynch.
Our Supporters
In addition to the funders mentioned above for our food assistance programs, we are grateful to the following pharmaceutical and medical supply organizations which supplied us with products in 2017. They are : Nestle, Takeda, Abbvie, Astra Zeneca, Janssen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Astellas Pharma Tech, Perniz, Amarin Pharma, KOWA, Glazo SmithKline, ZenoPort, MERCK&CO, Americares, and
Bayer
Future Plans
Every year since our organization began, we have been able to increase our medical product distributions. To date we have distributed over $5M in programs to impoverished children and orphans around the world. In 2018, we are currently feeding 197 individuals (school children, their siblings and parents) every weekend school is in session in four Connecticut schools. This will represent over 32,000 meals for the 2017/18 school year.
In 2018 we plan to distribute about $1M in medical products internationally and at least 32,000 meals to food insecure school children and their families in Connecticut.
November 25, 2017
Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation Receives Grant to Help Relieve Food Insecurity and Improve Student Outcomes for Families
Hamden, CT (November 15, 2017) Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation (AORF) has received a two-year grant from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s Alice F. Cochran Fund to support a weekend food assistance program for food insecure children and their families at the John C. Daniels School. AORF’s partner, John J. Driscoll United Labor Agency (ULA) in Rocky Hill, delivers weekend food bags on a weekly basis during the school year. Food bags contain the makings of five weekend meals and snacks for the entire family. Bags also contain fliers on other benefits/services for which the family may be eligible.
Partnering in 2014, AORF and ULA began planning to help address the problem of food insecurity in schoolchildren in Connecticut. In 2015, they started weekend food assistance programs at two schools, one at the SAND School in Hartford and one at the Church Street School in Hamden. The following year, they started a third program at the Charles F. Hayden Day School in Milford. This grant starts, for school year 2017-2018, a fourth program at the John C. Daniels Magnet School in New Haven. Dr. Margaret Chustecki, Founder and Executive Director of AORF, says, “AORF is committed to the vision of every child reaching his or her potential, and hungry schoolchildren are not in a position to make the most of their school experience. AORF seeks to improve the quality of life for at-risk children, one child at a time!”
Nearly one in five Connecticut children live in food insecure households, meaning they have inadequate food to support active, healthy lifestyles. Hungry children are most vulnerable to getting insufficient food when school is not in session: on weekends and over the summer. AORF and ULA attempt to relieve uncertainty about food for the entire family during the weekends school is in session. Last academic year (2016-2017) AORF and ULA fed a total of 191 individuals (124 children) on weekends school was in session. They delivered 955 meals each weekend and a total of 27,530 meals for the school year.
Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation www.aidorphansrelief.org
AORF has two programs. Their product distribution program distributes medicines, medical supplies, wellness and hygiene items, and nutritional supplements to orphanages and health/child care organizations in Poland, Ukraine, Philippines, Africa, and the U.S. Since its inception in 2010, AORF has delivered over $5M worth of these products. Our mission, “to provide orphans and other at risk children, around the globe and here in Connecticut, with proper healthcare, nutrition and wellness treatments that would otherwise be unavailable,” creates a big umbrella under which both the product distribution program and the weekend food assistance programs exist.
First delivery of food bags to the John C. Daniels School. From left to right, Kasey Cornwell (ULA Staff), Karina Woltke (teacher at the school), Katherine Mamed (ULA staff), and Daniel Bonet-Ojeda (principal at the school).
Contact: Lynne Schilling
Grant Writing Director
Phone: 203-645-8812
E-mail: lynneschilling@gmail.com
October 17, 2017
Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation Receives MAXIMUS Foundation Grant to Help Relieve Food Insecurity and Improve Student Outcomes for Families
Hamden, CT (November 15, 2017) Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation (AORF) has received a grant from MAXIMUS Foundation to support a weekend food assistance program for food insecure children and their families at the John C. Daniels School. AORF’s partner, John J. Driscoll United Labor Agency (ULA) in Rocky Hill, delivers weekend food bags on a weekly basis during the school year. Food bags contain the makings of five weekend meals and snacks for the entire family. Bags also contain fliers on other benefits/services for which the family may be eligible. This grant will help buy food for the weekend program. In particular it will allow us to add fresh produce to our food bags to complement our food staples. The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven (@CFGNH) also helps support this program.
It’s an honor to provide Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation (http://www.aidorphansrelief.com) with MAXIMUS Foundation grant that will enable such a deserving organization to continue its spectacular work improving health, child and community development, and helping underserved populations in the local community,” said John Boyer, MAXIMUS Foundation Chairman. “Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation has earned this well-deserved grant by providing innovative solutions that empower families and individuals – values that we hold dear at the MAXIMUS Foundation. The Foundation and I send our warmest congratulations to the Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation.”
About MAXIMUS
Since 1975, MAXI US has operated under its founding mission of Helping Government Serve the People®, enabling citizens around the globe to successfully engage with their governments at all levels and across a variety of health and human services programs. MAXIMUS delivers innovative business process management and technology solutions that contribute to improved outcomes for citizens and higher levels of productivity, accuracy, accountability and efficiency of government- sponsored programs. For more information, visit www.maximus.com.
About the MAXIMUS Foundation
As the philanthropic arm of MAXIMUS, the Foundation extends the mission of the Company by identifying and awarding grants to partners with specialized expertise to deliver results within the same populations and communities served by the public programs the Company operates. The MAXIMUS Foundation is completely funded by MAXIMUS and its employees, and provides grants to local community organizations with programs and projects in the areas of child and youth development, health and community development.
Contact: Lynne Schilling
Grant Writing Director
Phone: 203-645-8812
Email: lynneschilling@gmail.com
September 29, 2016
Meeting with Ambassadors Crispin Gregoire and April Sutton
Dr. Margaret Chustecki, Executive Director of AORF, accompanied by Lynne Schilling (grant writer) and Alexis Cort (board member) met on September 29th in NYC with United Nations Ambassador, April Sutton. Ms. Sutton is a United Nations Delegate to the General Assembly. She had previously acted as a go-between to link AORF with Dr. Michelle Corral for the purpose of getting donated medical supplies to Kenya. Ambassador Sutton is known for her philanthropic activities and is generously helping AORF plan for a fundraising event in the future.
At a recent meeting at the Yale Club in NYC, Dr. Margaret Chustecki, Executive Director of AORF, met who serves as the permanent Representative to the United Nations for the Commonwealth of Dominica. Accompanying Dr. Chustecki were Lynne Schilling (grant writer) and Alexis Cort (board member). After being introduced by Ambassador April Sutton, Ambassador Gregoire told us of the needs of indigent people in the Caribbean nations and started the process of exploring whether there is a way for AORF to get donated medical supplies to primary health care clinics in Haiti and Dominican Republic.
Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation in Media
May 6, 2016
Read about Dr. Margaret Chustecki and Aid for Orphans Relief Fundation in Hamden Journal.
Click on the picture to know more
Read an interview with founder of AORF – Dr. Margaret I. Chustecki
October 29, 2015
AORF was honored on October 29th at a fundraising event held by the John J. Driscoll United Labor Agency at Foxwoods. Dr. Schilling, AORF’s Director of Grant Writing, accepted the 2015 Community Champion Award for the Foundation. AORF was recognized for its work to help end food insecurity in Connecticut schoolchildren. In 2014, AORF partnered with ULA to start new weekend backpack programs in the state to feed families when they are the most vulnerable: weekends and summers. ULA and AORF opened two new weekend backpack programs this fall: one at the SAND School in Hartford and one at the Church Street School in Hamden. Many thanks to ULA for this award!
October 29, 2015
Receipt of a Community Champion Award
Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation (AORF) is proud to announce receipt of a Community Champion Award (October 29, 2015) from the State of Connecticut. The award was issued by Her Excellency Nancy Wyman, Lieutenant Governor, for our work in supporting the Labor of Love Backpack Program (John J. Driscoll United Labor Agency) in delivering weekend food to children and families in the Hartford community.
March 25, 2015 – Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation (AORF) has received a grant from the Fund for Greater Hartford
Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation (AORF), a local organization dedicated to helping orphans and other vulnerable children around the world and here in Connecticut, has received a $5000 grant from the Fund for Greater Hartford to offer a new weekend backpack program at the SAND Elementary School in Hartford. AORF, started in 2010 by Dr. Margaret Chustecki, has both an international and local arm. Internationally, AORF acts as a conduit in sending medical supplies, medicines, nutritional products, and personal hygiene products to orphanages, clinics, and hospitals in Easter Europe, Asia and Africa where children urgently need these supplies. In the short time it has been in existence, AORF has delivered approximately $2M of products to children in need.
Locally, AORF is committed to helping alleviate food insecurity in Connecticut schoolchildren. One in five children in Connecticut live in a food insecure household, meaning that there is not enough food, consistently, to support active, healthy lives. Offering weekend food programs through the school is one way to address the problem of food insecurity, but it is estimated that only 10% of children who need weekend food are currently getting it. Therefore, AORF is partnering with successful weekend backpack programs to secure funds to expand their programs into schools that need them.
For the SAND Elementary School, AORF has partnered with the John J. Driscoll United Labor Agency (ULA) of Rocky Hill to expand their successful Labor of Love Weekend Backpack Program. The ULA program provides weekend food for the entire family in its weekly backpacks, and adjusts the amount of food depending on the number of people in the household. Whenever possible, they include fresh produce in the backpacks. The grant will allow AORF and ULA to offer the weekend backpack program to ten families at the SAND school for the 2015/16 school year.
Currently, AORF is working with both ULA and the Hyacinth Williams Foundation for Children to seek funding for weekend backpack programs in nine schools in the state. This initiative was also aided in the fall of 2014 with a grant from the Cottonwood Foundation in West Hartford, CT.
April 16 th, 2014
Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation meets with Ambassador Wenwa, Consul General of the Kenya, Greater Los Angeles area.
On April 16 th, 2014, Margaret Chustecki MD, Managing Director of Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation met with Ambassador Dr. Wenwa Akinyi Odinga Oranga, Consul General of the Kenya Consulate, Greater Los Angeles area. The meeting was attended also by April Sutton, an award-winning Television Broadcast Pioneer in Hollywood and a vivid advocate for children at risk in many African countries.
The meeting with Ambassador Wenwa will help strengthen our current programs of distributing critical medical supplies to orphans at risk in Kenya and will mark the start of our collaboration on new innovating ways to answer specific needs of orphans in Kenya to achieve the greatest impact.
We know that thousands of children in Africa have died and thousands more are malnourished. Malnourished children fall sick more often and if they recover can suffer from irreversible mental and physical disabilities. By providing basic medicines, medical supplies, sanitizers, nutritional supplements and vitamins, we know we can show positive results. The key to save life in Africa is connecting with specific partners on the ground, who know what the greatest needs are. Our goal is to continue our current partnership with Ambassador Wenwa and April Sutton in order to lessen child mortality in Kenya and improve the children’s quality of life.
April 16 th, 2014
Margaret Chustecki M. D from Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation meets Cadrine E. Gill, M.D. Consul General of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Consulate, Greater Los Angeles area.
On April 16 th, 2014, Margaret Chustecki MD, Managing Director of Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation met with Ambassador Cadrine E. Gill, M.D. Consul General of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Consulate, Greater Los Angeles area. The meeting was attended also by April Sutton,the “Face of Hollywood” for 10 years, which sealed her name as part of BET’s early history. As an activist she is a tireless worker, developing projects which bridge the gap between top celebrities and children at risk.
Ambassador Gill presented an official letter from Ambassador La Celia A. Prince requesting support for Saint Vincent and Grenadines after recent disaster. On December 28, 2013, the torrential rains caused severe flooding and landslides on mainland St Vincent that left 17 reported deaths and many people missing. The storm caused extensive damage to the infrastructure, including flooding of the only major hospital, Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, and damaging the E.T. Joshua Airport, as well as severe damage to roads and bridges around the islands. According to Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, it will require “millions of dollars” to rebuild the country. Gonsalves also said “this is a disaster of a proportion the likes of which we have not seen in living memory”.
– See more at: www.embsvg.com
AORF INTERVIEW ON AM1220 WQUN November 8, 2013
Good Morning! On air now for Friday Marketplace with AM1220 WQUN. Tune in to hear from Dr. Margaret Chustecki & Carol Robbins from Aid for Orphan Relief Foundation. Enjoy you day! — with Ray Andrewsen at AM1220 WQUN.
Invited by the Hamden Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Margaret Chustecki and Carol Robbins of Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation were interviewed by Ray Andrewsen on air. This was a wonderful opportunity to inform listeners about AORF and the mission to send, nutrition, medication and wellness supplies to orphans and children at risk around the world and locally in Connecticut. Many of the products are donated by pharmaceutical companies and other non profit organizations like Americares but some have to be purchased. Dr. Chustecki, founder of this 3 year old foundation, encouraged listeners to visit the Aid for Orphans Foundation website and contribute to this critical need. In this year AORF has sent over $500,000 worth of medication to 7 countries. She stated that the medication can improve health and often saves lives. Carol Robbins stated that as a new organization they would welcome volunteers in a variety of positions. Aid for Orphans Relief is partnering with the Clarion Hotel on December 19, 2013 for the Chambers after Hours and participants will have an opportunity to bring over the counter hygiene supplies for distribution locally.
Interview in Post-Chronicle on October 25, 2013
INTERVIEW ON WTNH News 8 September 24, 2012
Orphans Relief Foundation Gains North Haven Rotary Support:
North Haven: A new member of the North Haven Rotary Club who has already been tagged to serve as its treasurer next July recently presented funds that his company raised at a holiday dinner in mid-December to the founder and managing director of Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation, Dr. Margaret Chustecki. At a weekly meeting of the club, Erik Scaranuzzo also thanked her colleague, Carol Robbins a former resident of North Haven, for her dedication to the cause.
Dr. Chustecki related how she formed the organization in 2010 after visiting orphanages throughout her native Poland. Her brochure reads, After seeing the childrens dire need for medical care, (she) began looking for ways to provide for them and other children facing the same hardships. She added that she saw firsthand the dreadful living conditions in orphanages where too many children suffer from chronic and acute illnesses. These children need far more care than the Centers can afford. I have since been compelled to expand my support for orphaned children and provide services to Appalachia and Africa as well as Eastern Europe.
Donations to the non-profit provide food and clean water, vaccinations, medical management, hygiene and wellness supplies, preventative care, and emergency relief. (www.aidorphansrelief.org/donate).
Text & photo courtesy of David Marchesseault & George Guertin, Rotary PR Committee
Article (in Polish), May 2012 – “Miedzy Nami” Newspaper:
Article (in Polish), May 19th, 2012 – “Kurier Plus” Newspaper:
Article (in Polish), April 14th, 2012 – “Kurier Plus” Newspaper:
“Dobra Polska Szkola” website article:
Article (in Polish), April 7th, 2012 – “Super Express” Newspaper:
