A RUN THAT GIVES HOPE
Unlike other school fundraising companies, Pledge 4 Hope is an organization that exists to generate resources for schools and students in impoverished communities around the world. Pledge 4 Hope's portion of the proceeds generated from the event are used to fund current and future educational projects in these impoverished areas.
By partnering with us, not only will the needed resources for your school be raised, your school and students will help us facilitate change for underprivileged school children around the world by giving them HOPE!
Interested in being a part of our summer Impact Teams?
During the summer, volunteers made up of educators, students, physicians, and others will join us by serving on Impact Teams to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Here are some of the projects we will be taking part in:
- Teacher training seminars
- Water filter distributions
- Medical treatment
- School supplies distribution
- Student Outreach activities
- Recreational sports activities
If you are interested in serving on one of our volunteer Impact Teams or if your school has educational supplies and materials to donate, please select the LEARN MORE button below.
Educational Facts About Haiti
- The enrollment rate for primary school in Haiti is 57%, and fewer than 30% of the students reach 6th grade.
- Secondary schools enroll 20% of eligible-age children.
- Haiti’s literacy rate is 52.9%.
- Haiti ranks 177th out of 186 in the world for national spending on education.
- The Government has advocated the creation of a free public and universal education system for all primary school-age students in Haiti, but there is no government funding program available now or appropriated in the near future to provide for free public education for all children in Haiti.
- International private schools (run by Canada, France, and the United States) and church-run schools educate 90% of students.
General Facts About Haiti
- In January of 2010, Port au Prince, the Capital of Haiti, was devastated by a monster earthquake that literally destroyed the city claiming over 230,000 lives.
- The poorest country in the Americas and the 3rd poorest country in the world, Most of Haiti’s 10 million people live on less than $2 a day.
- There is no food stamp program
- There are no Medicaid, Medicare or National Health Care programs
- There is no Social Security
- There are over 400,000 children without parents in Haiti.
- 1 out of 5 children will die before the age of five.
- Roughly three-quarters of Haitians are either unemployed or trying to make ends meet in the informal economy and 75% of Haiti’s people live in abject poverty.
Educational Facts About the Dominican Republic
- In a 2008 study of academic achievement for 3rd and 6th grade students in 16 Latin American countries, the Dominican Republic came in dead last in the areas of math, reading and science.
- Dominican Republic Preschool Enrollment is around 32%.
- The Dominican Republic’s public investment in education is 2.3% of their gross domestic product, which ranks 122nd out of 132 countries.
- Around 85% of poor Dominican parents have never completed primary education.
- For every 100 Dominican children entering formal education, only 75 complete grade 4; 63 complete grade 6 and only 52 complete the 8-year primary level. This situation is even worse in rural areas where most schools stop at grade 5.
- The Dominican Republic was ranked 101 out of 177 countries in terms of literacy.
- The primary school dropout rate in the Dominican Republic is 14%.
- Only 12% of low-income students who start high school will complete their studies.
Why Help the Children of Haiti and the Dominican Republic?
The children of Haiti and the Dominican Republic are no different than the children in America EXCEPT that they are 2 of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere with Haiti being the 3rd poorest country in the world. In Haiti and the Dominican Republic there are no Food Stamps, Head Start, Medicaid, Medicare, Public Health Care, Aid to Families, Job Core, Emergency Food and Shelter Program or Public Housing. In America our government has over 70 programs to assist the poor.
Most children live in poorly made houses with dirt floors, no electricity, no bath rooms, and go to bed hungry many nights. They are wonderful kids, smart, happy, polite, respectful and thankful for your help.