Sherae Honeycutt

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Original Post

One Kansas City non-profit organization is getting some royal attention, but not the royals you may be thinking.

Imagine waking up in the morning and checking your Instagram only to see your newest follower is the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. That’s exactly what happened to Kansas City based ‘Children International.’

“It was a complete surprise and a welcome one,” president and CEO, Susana Eshleman said. “We are delighted that they found us, and have named us to be a leading and inspiring force for change.”

The organization allows people to sponsor a child for $36 a month. The money funds community centers across multiple countries to provide medical, dental, social and educational needs to change children’s lives.

“Our goal is by the time our children and youth reach the age of twenty four they are living above the level of poverty, and they are positive agents of change within their community,” Eshleman said.

The royal couple selected 15 non-profits to follow to bring awareness to their causes.

Jessica Wilcox works for Children International, and it inspired her to sponsor a child herself. She has been sponsoring a girl named Evelyn in Guatemala for six years.

“We exchange a lot of letters back and forth,” Wilcox said. “She’s just very sweet. Just knowing that for the little that it costs me that it makes a big impact on her life, and it has a big impact on my life just learning more about her world and the challenges she goes through. It just kind of puts a lot of things into perspective for me.”

Eshleman said she’s incredibly grateful to the royal couple for shining a light on the work they do.

“We work in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world, and when you meet the children we meet they’ve often lost hope, so when through our support they go from being victims of their circumstances to empowered and inspired actors of change in their community they become multiplying agents of change, and this is how we change the world,” Eshleman said.

Eshleman said they are seeing a lot of activity through their social media platforms after the announcement, and are hoping it inspires people to get involved.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child of your own you can look at their profiles and a little bit about each child here. They also accept one time donations if you do not want the commitment of sponsorship.