Our Mission:
To be a global tribe dedicated to ending extreme poverty by helping to rescue orphans, restore their hope and renew their communities.
Our Story:
Two years ago, Chris Marlow traveled to Cape Town and Zimbabwe to visit with friends and a community developer who focused on aiding orphaned children and widows. During his trip, Chris was overwhelmed with compassion for the orphans that he encountered. Many of these children were orphaned by parents who had been victims of the AIDS pandemic that had put an increased strain on local organizations, ultimately slowing the developmental stages of community growth. With a heavy heart, Chris promised to bring awareness to the children’s unneccessary plight by imploring his closest friends to act. In 2008, upon invitation from a former government official in Cairo, Chris returned to Africa with with his friend, Jeff Mangum. They were astonished to find thousands of children living in extreme poverty. More precisely, these children lacked the most basic life essentials: housing, food, shelter and education. These orphans were no longer faceless statistics to Chris and Jeff; they had names and dreams. They were each searching for something valuable … they were searching for hope.
After months of daydreaming and praying over what their tangible response should be, they decided to launch Help End Local Poverty: A movement of hope, love and story. As the founders of HELP, Chris and Jeff have a simple vision to create a tribe of individuals who long to help rescue destitute orphans and bring restore their lives. The goal of HELP is to connect westerners with leaders in developing nations for the purpose of erradicating extreme poverty and creating sustainable development at the local level.
HELP is based in Austin, TX and Raleigh, NC and has recently acquired its 501(c)(3) not-for-profit status. All contributions are tax-exempt. Visit other pages to see how you can be a part of HELP.