NPH USA Midwest Celebrates Supporter Rick Reichmuth

As our Midwest Region gears up for the Football Legends Classic 2019 at the Biltmore Country Club in North Barrington, Illinois, we would like to take some time to highlight this year’s Emcee: Rick Reichmuth. Rick, an AMS Seal-certified meteorologist, is the Chief Meteorologist at FOX News and FOX & Friends. After originally pursuing a career in banking, Rick decided to follow his dream and has now been working in the meteorology industry for over 17 years.

In 2017, Rick launched the Weatherman Umbrella, a one-of-a-kind umbrella that can withstand anything. It can endure winds up to 55 mph and effectively repels all water. Additionally, there is an app that allows users to locate their umbrella via Bluetooth and get morning notifications about if their Weatherman Umbrella is needed. The Weatherman Umbrella is currently available in three different styles: collapsible, stick, and golf. Thanks to the hard work of its founder and CEO—Rick, himself--Weatherman Umbrella has taken off.

Before Rick was a nationally recognized meteorologist and CEO, he served as an international volunteer at the NPH Mexico Miacatlán home in the early 90’s. After receiving a degree in Spanish Literature from Arizona State University, Rick headed down to NPH Mexico. Once there, he spent a little over a year focusing on active physical therapy for the home’s special needs children. Currently, our Mexico home supports 719 children and provides 1,677 services.

Rick is generously donating his time and his Weatherman Umbrellas to the Football Legends Classic. Rick, thank you for your continued support of NPH’s mission, and see you on the green! 

High Schoolers Host Fundraiser to Support Sponsorship

Below is a reflection written by high school student Danielle Stone from Glenview, IL, who organized a fundraiser to help support Johana* at NPH Guatemala. 

Recently, my tennis team and I decided to have a bake sale at our school. We wanted to have a team bonding experience and be able to help others at the same time. When we were trying to decide what organization the money should go to I suggested NPH. I told them all about the organization and about how I sponsor a child from Guatemala. They thought it sounded like a great cause and so we set a date for the bake sale. Everyone on our team made 3-4 dozen baked goods that we sold during lunch hours at our school. We sold cupcakes, brownies, cookies, lemon bars, pumpkin bread, and donuts. Everyone signed up for a shift time when they could work the table and sell our goods.

It was so incredible to see how many people wanted to learn more about NPH and how everyone was so supportive. Our goal was to raise around $300 and we ended up raising $400.66. We sold out of all our baked goods in 5 periods, which is very fast. It was such an amazing experience for me to be able to teach my peers and teachers about the mission of NPH.

*names have been changed to protect the privacy of children 

Project Linus

We would like to extend our gratitude to The Greater Boston Chapter of Project Linus for sending down bundles of homemade blankets, hats, and other knit items to our Nuestros Pequenos Hermanso (NPH) homes in Honduras, Haiti, and Nicaragua this year. With so many “brothers and sisters,” our children are overjoyed to have something they can truly call their own. 

Project Linus is an organization committed to providing children who are ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need with blankets and afghans lovingly created by volunteers. Nancy Kearns, a Greater Boston Chapter Coordinator, says that one of the best things about being a part of their organization is the wonderful people she has met which span across religions, cultures, and generations. Volunteers range from brownie girl scouts to retirees looking for something to be a part of. 

Nancy first heard about NPH and the network of orphanages that they support through a local Irish Hearts for Haiti event supporting our NPH home in Haiti last year. Nancy wanted to help support our NPH children by offering them beautifully knit items made by Project Linus volunteers, that the children can use and snuggle up with. Orchard Cove, a retirement community in Canton, Mass., has a group of retirees that meet on a weekly basis to contribute their time and talent to the mission of Project Linus. For some of these volunteers, their passion for the organization stems from being on the receiving end. One of the women in the Orchard Cove group said that she had had an ill three-month-old daughter in the hospital who was given a Project Linus blanket. She added that she was happy that she was now able to help provide blankets to children in similar situations, and through their connections with NPH, can now provide blankets to children all over the world. 

When shown pictures of pequenos in Honduras proudly wearing the hats and showing off the blankets that the group knit, the volunteers could not help but to smile and comment on how cute the children were. One of the knitters said, “I’m so glad I’m doing something for someone that desperately needs it.” NPH would like to thank Project Linus for their continued support. 

It could not happen if it were not for you.

A message of good news from Frank Donaghue, Chief Executive Officer:

Just recently we celebrated the feast of Easter, and like most feasts we celebrate in the Church, or even holidays we celebrate within the secular community, they are very planned and structured with every detailed prepared. In the church, the music is practiced, the special flowers arranged, the ritual unique, and so too is the way we celebrate Christmas, Mother's Day or Father's Day with our families. We have special traditions and customs that make up these annual planned events.

However, the real events of Easter and Christmas and Pentecost were not like our current celebrations; they were unexpected, kind of scary, almost rough, and yet they are the very events through which God made himself known to us. 

For our kids their stories are also often rough, scary, and unexpected, but once at NPH something happens; their lives are changed, and for most of our children they experience family for the first time. This is the good news of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos.

James Joyce, the Irish writer, describes “Epiphany” as a quick sudden discovery of "whatness", and that is what happens at NPH. And it could not happen if it were not for you. 

It happens through your generosity of resources and even your love by becoming part of our children’s lives. Every time I visit a home I seem to connect with a child and decide to sponsor a new child: one who never knew his parents; one the son of parents who left him at NPH because they had HIV, were alcoholics, and the mother a prostitute and knew that they could never take care of him; a little girl and her 5 brothers and sisters whose mother died; a boy who started his life in a trash dumpster. Each story more tragic, scary, unexpected, and rough than the previous. In a short time, I have had an epiphany, perhaps they have had one too. My small gift is little compared to the gift they have given me. 

It costs about $5,000 a year to give a child that life, that hope, that opportunity. It is their food, their medical care, their education. 

NPH is their home, their family, you have a chance to bring provide that for them, and they have the ability to give you a gift beyond measure…take it from one who had an epiphany. 

This is an invitation to truly change the life of a child and transform your life at the same time; now that is good news.

Click here to learn more here.

Holy Family Surgery Center Medical Brigade at NPH Honduras

Doctors, nurses, medical students, along with various people from many other walks of life traveled to NPH Honduras from April 12-19th to drastically change the lives of hundreds of people by providing necessary medical support for both the children on the Ranch and the outside community that otherwise would be left neglected. The Holy Family Surgery Center is a godsend for the poorest of the poor in Honduras because they are not only provided with access to healthcare, but they are also treated with the dignity that they, as humans, deserve. Stepping inside Hospital Escuela, the public hospital in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, gives a sense of how desperately this is needed. The chaotic, dangerous, and underfunded hospital cannot provide efficient or even effective support to those most in need. If someone needed any type of surgery—after arriving at Hospital Escuela, they would first be required to go across the street and purchase the proper equipment. To those struggling, this is an extra burden and often impossibility. 


Kate Clitheroe, the coordinator for the Holy Family Surgery Center that volunteers at NPH Honduras wrote the following, “During the April Medical Brigade, a group of more than 40 medical professionals came here to the NPH home in Honduras. These specialists (orthopedics, gynecology, ENT, and general surgery) gave consults to over 700 patients and preformed 94 surgeries. Many of these consults were for members of the NPH family and at least 10 surgeries were performed on NPH children and employees. The community members here, our neighbors, give thanks to the physicians, the Daly Family, and everyone who helped during this medical brigade.” 


Here is a brief interview with one woman’s whose life and family were drastically impacted by this wonderful work.

This experience not only impacts the lives of those in Honduras, but it also touches those who participate. Below are reflections from two of the participants from the April Brigade: 


I think this was my 6th or 7th brigade to the Holy Family Surgery Center at the NPH site in Honduras. Each trip brings its own unique challenges and rewards. It’s amazing how far we’ve come from those first brigades when only a few surgical cases were performed. On our latest brigade we performed nearly 100 surgeries and saw 800 patients in clinic, truly staggering numbers. It’s remarkable to witness how people come together over the course of the week to become an effective, efficient team. Folks with no medical background pitch in to become valuable team members, students contribute their youth and enthusiasm, and the long-term volunteers inspire us all with their dedication. Importantly, all this surgical/medical activity is set against the backdrop of the “Ranch:” 300+ children at once smiling, crying, laughing, failing, and succeeding. Each child has their own story to share and inspire us in turn. It’s these children that continue to motivate me to be better, try harder, and return time after time. 


-Michael Forseth, MD 


The Blue Flame 
Traveling the world as a missionary evangelist, my partner was a gifted minister & very successful businessman. We always kept an eye out for people, causes, & missions to support that could qualify as "blue flamers" - called such because that’s the cleanest, most efficient part of a gas fueled flame. Ministries that qualify are surprisingly hard to find. 


So to experience NPH Honduras - the ranch, and surgery center - was a revelation. A self-sufficient ranch, using resources wisely, a home for orphans that is their family rather than a holding tank for adoption. 


Children receiving an academic education as well as being offered not just the spoken word of God, but His love in action. 


A surgery center that is doing more than healing individuals, it is building community. 


Biggest blue flame I've ever seen! 


I went as a volunteer, came home a supporter.


XO, Randy Cleary

Helping the kids to see at Rancho Santa Fe...

Below is a story about the awesome work of great Friends, Mary Lou and Leo Hundt from the SE Region. They recently made a trip to Honduras and helped our kids in a huge way!!! Read on!


Entering into Honduras with the autorefractor went very smooth. When we got to the ranch we unpacked it and set it up to make sure it was working. On Friday we saw 43 girls from the ranch who needed 18 pairs of glasses. On the second day we saw 92 boys who needed 19 pairs of glasses. The third day we saw 77 adults from the surrounding area who needed 56 pairs of glasses. In the following three weeks, we will be making those 89 pairs of glasses with the help of Sally & Richard VanBuskirk and Bob Indre. (All these glasses were later taken to the DR when the Hundt's made their trip there for the International Family Weekend, and they were then transported to Rancho Santa Fe.)


We had wonderful folks to work with while we were doing the eye exams. The VanBuskiek's are outstanding people to volunteer with as both Richard and Sally have so much knowledge about the equipment as well as doing eye exams. Heather Ann Brook, the volunteer nurse, was also outstanding and she will train the new volunteer nurse, Jennifer Cox, so that eye exams at the ranch will continue. The young people that worked with us everyday were Johanna, Belki and Diana; everyone should be so proud of these young people.


What a wonderful time we all had! 


-Mary Lou Hundt


Thank you so very much to the Hundt's and all their support for our kids!

2011 was a Wonderful Year!!!

This past year has been a truly great one for everyone at Friends of the Orphans and the children we support. Thanks to the hard work of Friends' staff, volunteers and supporters, there have been many wonderful things to highlight throughout the regions this year.

NPH Peru

As many of you know, in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Region, Friends opened a brand new regional office just outside of Boston. Our MANE office officially opened its doors in June 2011, and we have been busy meeting with both new and familiar faces in the community. We've succeeded in creating a successful Regional Board with 10 active members including board chair, Dr. Brian Orr. Our 2nd Annual Irish Hearts for Haiti event held in April was (again) a great success raising $38,000. We also held an exciting Donor Appreciation Event at the historic Fenway Park in July. Likewise, our Faces of Hope events in November went splendidly and had nearly 150 attendees! We were so fortunate this year to welcome Elzer, a pequeño from NPH Honduras, who stayed from May until August. He participated in events, spoke at various churches, schools, and civic functions, and was able to work on perfecting his English while interning at a local elementary school. Our gratitude goes out to the Henry family for hosting Elzer!

NPH Dominican Republic

Our Northwest Region has had much to be proud of in 2011 including a group of interns who have been invaluable this year! Our two Development Interns planned a very successful Family Summer BBQ event with a great turnout, and our Salesforce Intern has been there giving us weekly database support. We also hosted another amazing trip to NPH Honduras (our 8th annual!) We made so many great new Friends, not only bringing in two new tables of people to our Gala (and all our desserts being donated), but also a new mission trip in collaboration with a Montessori school in the Midwest region. Our outreach in Portland, Oregon, and Spokane, Washington, keeps gaining momentum with Faces of Hope Portland being our biggest yet, and we had many new attendees in Spokane. Our open house FUNdraisers in Portland, Spokane and Boise, Idaho were also great times for everyone involved. In Seattle we had a very special event with Jean François Seide, pequeño and member of the newly launched NPH Leadership Program, along with Fr. Rick Frechette of NPFS Haiti allowed us to raise over $62,000 for our programs in Haiti!

NPH El Salvador

Down in the Southeast Region 2011 has been a truly blessed year. In April we moved in to our new office with a view of downtown Miami, the financial district, the water and the new Miami Marlins stadium. Our 5th Annual Faces of Hope Luncheon and our 2nd Annual All the World to One Child Gala were both generously sponsored by great Friend, Chevron. Over 300 guests were in attendance for the luncheon, and this “friendraising” event, featuring special guest Clara Grove, a former pequeña from NPH Mexico, raised more than $45,000! Our gala, which was held at Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami, had over 200 guests in attendance and raised over $50,000. We also had a particularly special accomplishment this year that directly affected 3 of our children at NPH Honduras. Thanks to the great connections and efforts of one of our board members, Aid for Aids continuous to donate ARV’s medications for these 3 children to keep them healthy and provide a HUGE savings for our home (about 30k a year). We've also been lucky enough to have wonderful volunteers this year such as Danixa Lopez who has not only helped with several translations, but has been instrumental in our branding and outreach to the Hispanic community. Finally, our total in kind donations this year added up to over $5.5 million, helping provide for countless individuals in need in mainly Haiti and Honduras. Similarly, in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala, our partnership with FedEx helped to provide over 15,000 books for the children we support.

NPH Guatemala

In the Upper Midwest Region we celebrated our 25th anniversary this year, and what a year it was! We welcomed over 230 new child sponsors to our family of nearly 2,000 total Upper Midwest child sponsors. Over $400,000 was raised through various events at churches as well as our annual Gala, run/walk and triathlon events. We also held our first ever fundraising event in Iowa, which brought in over $30,000. We had great volunteer involvement this year with a total contribution of over 2,000 hours. We also welcomed two new staff members, Sara Joyce and Sue Lovegreen, who have been wonderful additions to our team. Our team has had an incredible year celebrating welcoming a baby, a marriage and an engagement! We've also been so very proud of Sean Breininger, our Regional Director, who had his “second birthday” through a bone marrow transplant this December, praying that 2012 will boast a fully successful bone marrow transplant.

NPFS Haiti

In the Midwest Region we once again conducted a very successful Gala event, raising even more funds than the year before! Gala attendees were entertained by the music and dance group from NPH Mexico, and they also heard a compelling keynote speech from Aurora Zacarias, a former pequeña from NPH Mexico. Our 2011 Pequeño Tour also went fabulously, exceeding our revenue goal. We were so happy to have the sixteen pequeños from NPH Mexico perform at various venues in Chicago and throughout Indiana, including the University of Notre Dame. We also hosted an exciting and successful donor appreciation event this year in a donated skybox at a White Sox game. For the first time in several years we conducted a donor trip out of our region. Unlike most donor trips that visit a single NPH home, this trip visited NPH homes in two different countries – Guatemala and El Salvador! Juan Manuel Pineda, a pequeño from NPH El Salvador, performed a concert for almost 500 guests in our hometown of Chicago. We've also had great support this year from Friends in our region like John Shattuck, Vice Chair of the Midwest Region Board, who arranged for six shipping containers of donated medical equipment and other supplies valued at $1.425 million to be sent to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

NPH Honduras

Last but certainly not least, in the Southwest Region we have also had a tremendous year! We have a wonderful new donor who became involved during our Pequeño Tour and continued on to attend our Gala, sponsor a child, go on a donor tour, sponsor another child, organize a FUNdraiser for February 2012 and collect clothes and games to be sent to the homes! We are so very appreciative of all that our donors do. We also had over 150 teens and adults participate on our mission trips to Guatemala and Mexico to spend a week with their 128 Godchildren that they sponsor. In addition, we collected and delivered 104 boxes of new clothes, shoes, school supplies and sports equipment. We also had some awesome events this year including both of our Power of One events in April where Eligio Villegas Cruz, a  pequeño from NPH Mexico, was our guest speaker. Eligio graduated from the University of Monterrey in Mexico this June with a degree in International Marketing. The two events raised over $40,000 and was underwritten by Wells Fargo Private Client Services. We also secured 18 child sponsorships at these events. For our annual Pequeño Tour throughout Arizona and California, we hosted the dancers and musicians from NPH El Salvador, and as of October 19th, the event netted $281,850 and secured 101 new sponsorships with an annualized income of $52,680. These children left lasting memories with their host families and the communities they visited. We also conducted our 12th Annual Diocese of Phoenix Catholic School Mass and Cultural Day with the 11 schools that are part of our school sponsorship program and support over 70 godchildren.

NPH Mexico

It has truly been an amazing year, and we are so thankful for all our Friends like you who help us to raise children and transform lives. Thank you for all your generosity and support throughout 2011, and we look forward to 2012! Happy new year!!!