With the Christmas holidays coming up fast, and the rising anticipation of being with family and friends, this time of the year also reminds us that there are others, especially children, that are less fortunate, without family, and with little security for their future. It’s hard to fathom and can likewise make one wonder what can be done. In that spirit, we want to celebrate the success stories of those making a difference, like the Asian Pacific Children’s Fund (APCF for short) and our friends, Don and Molly McAlvany, doing it literally brick by brick, and one child at a time.

We don’t do it often here at our blog – perhaps not often enough - but in this aforementioned context, and in the spirit of Christmas, we wanted to bring up a cause which we’ve supported for a long time and that is very near and dear to our hearts: the Asian Pacific Children’s Fund. The APCF was started by our dear friends Don and Molly McAlvany, back in 2002 pursuing their mission to “find, evaluate, and ‘adopt’ well run existing orphan and children’s homes in the developing world, especially Asia.”

Don and Molly are close, life-long friends of BFI’s CEO and Founder, Frank Suess, who has been supporting the APCF for a long time. Frank is even a member of APCF’s Board. In his involvement on the Board, he’s quoted as saying:

"I've known and been friends with Don, Molly and the rest of their beautiful family for close to 30 years now. Don and Molly are exceptional human beings with a huge heart and on a life mission for the kids in the APCF homes. I was able to, at a very early stage, witness the beginnings of APCF first-hand. This is a pure and loving endeavour. What I also like about the APCF culture is that those involved, including all of the board members, are helping without compensation. The administrative overhead is minimal. This organisation is all about the kids. Nothing else."

To learn more about the APCF and the work they have done for 20 years in finding and supporting well-run but largely unknown Asian children’s homes, please visit their website here.

The Asia Pacific Children’s Fund currently supports orphanages in the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Nepal and Myanmar (Burma). Don and Molly live in one of these homes and regularly visit all the others to see the children and make sure that the resources are being used efficiently and effectively.

In the spirt of Christmas, have a look at a video from Christmas, 2021, title “Christmas Dance”.

Congratulations to Don and Molly, and the APCF, in wrapping up their 20th anniversary this year and for currently supporting and giving a future to nearly 500 children at this time…with hopes for many, many more!

>> Read more here.