Children's Hope Chest

Children’s Hope Chest was founded in 1994 with the mission of spreading God’s love and providing hope to orphans around the world by meeting their daily practical needs. After establishing a successful program model in the Ivanova region of Russia, that success has now expanded into the adjacent Kostroma region and continues expansion efforts into Romania.

Each spring, Interstate employees are invited to travel to Russia to help orphans make the transition into adulthood by letting them know they are loved and teaching them the basics of life. A typical day is set up like Vacation Bible School in which team members are given a designated job ranging from arts and crafts to Bible study. In addition, volunteers often take daily walks with the children — bringing along a translator to make conversation more accurate and easier. 

Employees who are unable to travel abroad are provided an opportunity to make a difference by sponsoring a child — a wonderful way to form lasting bonds, while making a difference in an orphan’s life. Videotapes, e-mails and letters are often sent from Interstaters who want to send their sponsored child a message of hope, which are later interpreted by a Russian translator.

Russian children generally attend nine years of schooling, and upon qualification, may advance to the tenth and eleventh grades. However, many orphans choose to leave the orphanage during the ninth grade, often falling into the disparity of crime and prostitution. This is one of the reasons Interstate Batteries encourages these children through visits and letter writing — a reminder to work hard and stay in school, resulting in a higher number of graduates advancing to university programs.

Ongoing practical help for the orphanages includes: direct humanitarian aid, donations of medical supplies and equipment, a foster-care program, orphanage media centers, transitional homes for orphanage graduates, a technical school life-skills development program, computer training, and counseling program for orphans and orphanage graduates.

Programs provided for orphanage graduates offer practical instruction in life skills coupled with direct personal adult guidance and emotional support. A holistic approach to orphanage assistance in combination with creative programs for guiding and encouraging teenage orphanage graduates set Interstate Batteries apart as an organization uniquely designed to address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the world’s orphans.