The St. John Bosco Children’s Fund is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization that works internationally to help break the cycle of poverty by providing educational tuition sponsorship for children in the developing countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. By providing educational sponsorships, SJBCF sees itself as a tool for meeting the deepest expectations of young people by giving them the opportunity to receive a quality education
Poverty is one of the major factors that will determine whether a child in the Dominican Republic or Haiti will finish his/her education. Many families are unable to afford the expenses needed to send their children to school.
SJBCF partners with Catholic educational institutions to educate and develop the whole person. These faith-based schools offer a quality education that encourage habits and behaviors that will lead young people to make choices that are good, healthy, joyful, and life-enhancing. Sponsorship is crucial to the mission of SJBCF to give children the skills necessary to become productive and responsible adults.
St. John Bosco, known as Don Bosco, was born on August 16, 1815. He was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and educator who put into practice the convictions of his deeply held religious faith. He dedicated his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents, and other disadvantaged youth. His teaching method was based on love rather than punishment and encouraging each child to be the best that he or she could be. This method of teaching is known as the Salesian Preventive System.
In 1835 he established the first Catholic trade school in Italy after turning his mother's kitchen into a makeshift cobbler and carpentry shop. A follower of the spirituality and philosophy of Saint Francis de Sales, Bosco dedicated his works to him when he founded the Salesians of Don Bosco. Today, the Salesians of Don Bosco are serving poor and disadvantaged children in over 125 countries.
He died on January 31, 1888 and was canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Pius XI in 1934.