Save the Children

Hello! We are Save the Children. Our name tells you what we do: we work hard to help children all around the world stay safe, healthy, and happy. Our story began a long time ago, on May 19th, 1919. We were started in a city called London, in England, by two sisters who had a very big idea. Their names were Eglantyne Jebb and Dorothy Buxton.

At that time, a huge war called World War I had just ended. The war had left many families with very little. Lots of children were hungry and sick, and they needed help right away. Eglantyne and Dorothy saw this and knew they had to do something. So, they created our organization to bring food and medicine to the children who needed it most. Their goal was simple but very important: to help every child who was suffering.

Our founder, Eglantyne, had an even bigger idea. She believed that every single child in the world has special rights, just for being a kid. She thought that everyone should agree on what those rights are so that children would always be protected. She carefully wrote down a list of these promises, which she called the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. This important list said that all children deserve to have good food, a safe home, and the chance to go to school. It said they should be cared for when they are sick and protected from danger, no matter where they live or who their family is. This declaration became our main promise to children everywhere. It also helped leaders from countries all over the world agree that protecting children is one of the most important jobs they have.

From that small start in London, we began to grow. Soon, people in other countries wanted to help, too. Over the years, we grew from one group into a large family of groups working together in more than 100 countries. We help children in many different ways. When a big emergency happens, like an earthquake that knocks down homes or a flood that covers towns in water, we are there. We rush to bring families food, clean water to drink, and safe, warm places to stay.

But our work isn't just for emergencies. We also work every single day to help children have a healthy start in life and a bright future. We help open schools and make sure teachers have what they need so that every child can learn to read and write. We also help families find doctors and get medicine when they are sick. We believe that when children are healthy and have a good education, they can grow up to do amazing things.

Today, more than 100 years after we started, we are still working hard to keep our promise to children. We help millions of kids and their families every year. We don't do this work alone. We work together with teachers, doctors, and leaders in different communities. By working as a team, we can make sure children are protected from harm and have everything they need to grow up happy, healthy, and full of hope for the future.