Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation
Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation is a Connecticut-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission 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.
Dr. Margaret Chustecki, founder of Aid for Orphans Relief Foundation and Chair of AORF’s Board of Directors, established the organization after visiting orphanages throughout her native country of Poland. After seeing the children’s dire need for medical care, Dr. Chustecki began looking for ways to provide it for them and other children facing the same hardships.
In Dr. Margaret Chustecki’s own words: “Prior to establishing AORF and funding its startup costs, I saw firsthand the dreadful living conditions in orphanages throughout Poland. At The Care and Education Centers in the Slask Region, too many children suffer from chronic and acute illnesses. These children need far more care than the Centers can afford. They need specific medical treatments and supervision, drugs, and the attention from a variety of medical specialists. I have since been compelled to support the Centers while establishing AORF to help orphaned children abroad with similar needs. We’ve worked with a pharmaceutical company to provide a necessary drug to a child with cystic fibrosis. We’ve provided a year’s worth of food to a special needs child. We’ve also coordinated the provision and delivery of one hundred and twenty pounds of medications for other special needs children at the Center. These medications included oral and IV antibiotics for infections, inhalers for asthma, and medications for eczema and contact dermatitis. With much-needed assistance from donors, AORF will do far more for our underserved children.”
We look after many children
The children AORF serves have a variety of healthcare needs, ranging from basic preventative care to the long-term treatment and management of serious chronic illness. Our programs are developed to address these needs and are made possible by the generous donations of our supporters. These children need routine physicals, vaccinations, consistent specialized treatments and medications to survive. AORF’s programs promote our overall mission of providing medical care, nutrition, and wellness treatments for those who would otherwise go without.
We are not only concerned for vulnerable children in other countries but also for at risk children here in the U.S. In 2015 we started an initiative to expand the number of weekend food programs for food insecure schoolchildren in Connecticut. Despite the fact that Connecticut is one of the richest states in the nation, approximately one in five children live in food insecure households, meaning there is inadequate food to support active, healthy lives. For this initiative we have partnered with the John J. Driscoll United Labor Agency in Rocky Hill, Connecticut.