Upholding the hard work of compassion

Thank you to all the members who have over the years nominated Christian community-based poverty-fighting groups that offer challenging, personal, and spiritual help and do not depend on government financing. Once again we’ve done initial research by internet and phone, then sent reporters to eyeball and write about some interesting and replicable ones.

One geographic change: Since year after year members nominated many poverty-fighting groups from the South and few from the Northeast, we’ve revised our domestic regions for the final four. Northeast now includes everything east of the Mississippi River and north of Washington, D.C. Southeast is similar: east of the Mississippi and southward from Virginia and Kentucky. Extend the horizontal line westward to create Northwest and Southwest regions. Add one International winner, and we have the Final Five.

We feature in this issue the Southeast, Northeast, and International winners. The next issue will display two others, along with an impressive D.C.-area group that’s ineligible for the $15,000 grand prize because of its federal funding. Regional winners receive $2,000 each, plus lots of publicity and increased credibility that they often fruitfully use in their own areas to multiply those dollars. But we hope our members gain as much as these groups do: Faith soars when we see how God inspires His people to help others.