Letter Writing- Week Two

Hello!

Have you ever wondered how your letter got to your sponsored child?  If you have, maybe I can shed some light on the process today. 

Every month, Compassion's headquarters in Colorado Springs (aka GMC) receives 100,000 paper letters and 15,000 Internet letters.  However, 30% of the sponsored children with USA sponsors do not get any letters.  Only 2.6% of USA-sponsored children receive six or more letters a year.  It is really sad, because the letters can encourage the kids so much.  Compassion knows how much the letters mean to the kids.  If a sponsor has not written a letter in six months, Compassion sends a postcard with stationery to write their sponsored child.

Compassion has sixteen employees that deal with the letters from sponsors.  One is a researcher and fifteen are processors. 

If Compassion receives a letter that does not have the child name and number or the sponsor name and number, the researcher will look up the info on the computer.  Because it is difficult to find this information, it can slow down the letter by two weeks.  Fortunately only three percent of the letters received must be researched. 

The processors check the letter to see if it has the identification information on it.  They also will remove anything that cannot be sent.

When your letter gets to the GMC, it will get sorted by country.  Internet letters are printed off at the GMC and sorted by country, as well.  On Wednesdays and Thursdays, letters are sent to the country offices.   They are shipped Fed Ex, UPS, DHL, etc.  It can take two weeks to one month for the letters to get to the country offices.

Once the letters reach the country office, they are translated.  Usually, Compassion contracts translators and pays them by letter.  The translators get one or two weeks to translate the letters.  Then the letters are brought back to the country office.  The employees at the country office spot check a couple letters by each translator.

After that, the letters are sorted by project center.  They are either mailed, picked up, or dropped off to the project.  It can take two weeks to six weeks for the letters to get to the project.  Sometimes the projects are in the middle of nowhere, so there may not be a way to mail the letters. 

When the project gets the letters, they are logged into the child's record and sometimes with a copy.  Then the child will get the letter.  Usually, the letter stays at the center until the child writes back. 

Here is a video of the process that Compassion put together.


Well, I hope I made some sense!  Write your child today.

Change a life!
Lizzie :)

Read Week One of the letter writing series HERE.