Let kids be kids: Chris' sponsorship story

Chris Morgan and his family.

If you ask ChildFund sponsor Chris Morgan why childhood is important, he’ll talk to you about neuroplasticity – the ability of the brain to form and reorganize neural connections, especially in response to learning.

“Kids need to play, and they need to not have stress or pressure. They need a safe learning environment, a safe home,” he explains. “When you interrupt that process of brain development – whether it’s due to food scarcity, separation from parents, problems at school or whatever else – you’re really interrupting the growth process. Kids then have to focus on things that they’re not equipped to focus on.

“That’s the source of so much mental illness,” he says. “That’s why it’s so crucial that kids get to be kids.”

It’s also one of the reasons why he and his family have sponsored kids through ChildFund since 2011 – nine of them, to be exact.

“There are so many nonprofits out there. But I have a special place in my heart for kids,” he explains.

Chris worked as a nurse for many years in his community near the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He and his wife, Emily, have three children themselves – one 27, one 18 and one 15. Now that Chris is retired, he devotes much of his time to volunteer work and giving back through organizations like ChildFund.

“It’s better to give than to receive,” Chris says. “A lot of Americans, we get trapped in ourselves and our thinking. We want this, that and the other. Hopefully, you get to a point where you just get past yourself, once you start to give and you understand how your generosity can impact lives – especially kids’ lives.”

At the moment, Chris and his family are sponsoring three children from very different regions around the globe – Vitorya, 8, from Brazil, Rupa, 9, from India, and Susan, 14, from Zambia. One of his favorite things about the experience is knowing exactly where his donations are going.

“If we send money, they’ll say, ‘Thank you so much, we bought school clothes.’ Or just different things for the kids. You get to hear from the people you’re helping, and you actually get to know firsthand how the money is being used.”

Giving together as a family is a great way to keep things in perspective, too.

“Me and my family have been blessed to have so many resources, even as much as we ‘struggle’ at times.

“If you think you might be on the fence about it, wait until you get your first letter. Then you’ll know you made an awesome decision. Because then it becomes real. It’s not abstract. You see that this is an actual person, and I just put some clothes on them, some food in their belly, and they can go to school. Their life’s a little easier because of something I did.

“If you don’t feel good about that,” he laughs, “you should probably check your pulse!”