City Gate

If you are looking for an organization which does incredible work for youth and is one of the most fun-filled places to volunteer, City Gate is the group for you. This amazing non-profit was founded in October of 2001 in Washington, DC by Dr. Lynn Bergfalk in order to assist disadvantaged or disenfranchised members of the DC community. The group specifically focuses attention upon assisting children and youth, homelessness and poverty, and immigrant and international populations. In their own words, City Gate's goal is "To help folks on the margins of our society gain access to benefits of the larger community. And, second, to swing that gate both ways, and provide opportunity for those in the mainstream to understand the experience of the marginalized. Swinging the gate both directions recognizes that we all are fellow travelers in the journey of life. Whatever our personal circumstances may be, the blessing of reciprocity will enrich every person as we give and receive from each other." The group assists in numerous ways with afterschool programs, science clubs, summer camps, ESL classes, family literacy programs, and much more.

One such program is The Caterpillar Preschool. This is a multicultural language school for children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 5 years old. Children spend 2, 3 or 5 days a week in either the Spanish or French immersion room where they learn through play to become fluent in a foreign language. The opportunity allows children to become fluent in another language while their brains are developing, giving them a head start from an early age. 

City Gate provides grocery assistance, special holiday events, and a clothing closet for families in need at various locations around the District. 

Family literacy and adult literacy classes are also provided by the organization. GED Preparatory classes and the Adult Education for Careers provide a space for furthering career opportunities in a safe and healthy environment. 

Summer camps and after-school groups allow children to spend time in a safe and nurturing environment filled with educational opportunities and healthy snacks. Tutoring programs and homework help from caring volunteers ensure that children are keeping up with work and are staying at the appropriate grade level while boosting confidence and advancing scores on standardized testing. 

Although all of these programs are incredibly beneficial and necessary, my favorite program is the Urban HANDS alternative break program. HANDS, standing for Helping Another in Need by Demonstrating Servitutde, is an incredible program which children from the summer and after-school programs are paired with volunteers for service projects. The programs vary in length from a day to a week and are filled with fun and games for the children, while teaching the importance of volunteer work. In the evenings, children watch movies, eat healthy snacks, and play games. During the day, they are sent to assist with volunteer projects ranging from physical labor projects to working with organizations to fight poverty and homelessness. Ranging in age from about two to ten years of age, the children I worked with spent the evening playing board games and watching the movie Hook only to rise bright and early to take part in a Help the Homeless Walkathon. Teaching these children from a young age the importance of giving and serving others, the program created a great sense of pride for the children and helped to inspire volunteers to set an even greater example for the children they worked with.

City Gate is one of my favorite groups in DC and I highly recommend getting involved in any way you can. From monetary donations to serving the community the way the children in Urban HANDS do, this non-profit does more than help those in need. It reaffirms every reason why one volunteers in the first place. For more information about this group, please visit http://city-gate.org or contact Dr. Bergfalk at 202-237-1799. 

Stepping Stones Nigeria

Stepping Stones Nigeria is an incredible organization which was created in 2003 by Gary Foxcroft and Naomi Chapple. After spending three months at Akwa Ibom State and witnessing the lack of resources in schools, children sleeping on the streets, and many social issues which were plaguing the children of the region, Foxcroft was inspired to create a charity to assist Nigerian youth. Fighting for quality educational programs and resources, putting an end to the stigmatization, killing and abandonment of "child witches," and bringing an end to child trafficking, this program partners with local community organizations to end child abuse and deliver much needed health care and refuge for at risk youth.

Programs offered by Stepping Stones Nigeria: 


The Stepping Stones Model School provides over 180 nursery and elementary school children with quality teachers and numerous resources. Students who cannot afford the small monthly fee used to provide teacher salaries, attend through scholarships and are provided with free uniforms and books. The Local Government and village chiefs work with the program's supporters in order to create quality curriculum and provide the children with better opportunities. Using synthetic phonics and learning through play, educational toys, books, and games fill the school indoors, while a playground greets children outside. Local carpenters built furniture and supplies for the school with wood from the area.The children are taught sustainable farming practices by teachers and staff on the school's farm, which includes crops such as pineapple, water leaf, pumpkin, corn, cassava, and beans, as well as mango, apple, peach, pear, banana, plantain, and pawpaw trees. The profits from the produce of the farm are donated back to the costs of running the school. 

The murder, abandonment, and trafficking of child "witches" is a grave concern in the Niger Delta. The role of the church in this issue is quite alarming. Using fear tactics spread by "pastors" of some new Penetecostal groups have begun moving into communities and branding children as "witches" for economic and self-gain. Creating superstitious belief that by eating and drinking food and drink laced with "spells" can make an individual house wizards and witches in an individual, these pastors unleash panic and terror within communities. These pastors often convince communities that specific children (picked at random from the community) are the reason for issues in society, claiming that the children are causing HIV/AIDS, malaria, hepatitis, typhoid, cancer, infertility, mental health issues, divorce, and any other misfortunes that may arise within a village. Stemming from religious profiteering, extreme poverty, the disintegration of the extended family structure, superstitious beliefs, and broken marriages, accusations of child witchcraft are allowed to fester within communities and often cause children to become victims of heinous crimes and abuse. These pastors charge villages money in order to rid them of the witchcraft and the children harboring these evils.  These suspected witches range in age, some being younger than a year old. Some children are abandoned, isolated, and casted out of their communities, where they either die of starvation or are trafficked. Others are forced to drink acid, are taken into the forest and murdered, are bathed in acid, are publicly disgraced and murdered for all to see, are poisoned to death, or are buried alive. Others still are brought into churches where they are chained and tortured to extract confession. Through efforts of this group and groups like it, these horrific crimes against children have been made illegal. The group works with organizations in order to educate communities about the fallacies of the claims of witchcraft and pushes to bring families back together and assist the children who were abandoned and left for dead.

Child trafficking is another issue which is all too familiar in Nigeria. According to the organization's website, it it estimated that over 15 million Nigerian children are transported from rural to urban cities to be sold into child labor and slavery, (domestic servitude, forced labor, and sexual exploitation). The group strives to abolish this practice and advocate children's rights through drama groups and other means of educational programs and awareness.

The reach of this organization is astonishing and the work done in order to bring about educational equality and an end to child abuse is admirable. This is an incredibly deserving group which is always in need of advocates to sign petitions, spread awareness, and become actively involved in helping the children of Nigeria. For more information about this group and ways to become involved, visit www.steppingstonesnigeria.org.