More children are on the path from institutions to families with the help of BEB and Kershaw's Challenge

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Nov 16, 2023, 06:05 ET

Ellen and Clayton Kershaw fund BEB for the third year in a row to expand operations in Africa

DALLAS, Nov. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- For the third year, Both Ends Believing (BEB) is the grateful beneficiary of LA Dodgers' pitcher Clayton Kershaw and his organization, Kershaw's Challenge. This partnership has been the source of exponential growth in BEB's mission, to give children permanency through loving, forever families with the help of Children First Software.

Through CFS, children are reunified with biological family or adopted into permanent, loving families.

BEB equips countries to care for their children and ensure they can grow up in families and not institutions.

Clayton Kershaw, his family, and the Kershaw's Challenge team have supported the expansion of BEB and CFS first in the Dominican Republic, then in Ethiopia, and this year in Nigeria. Kershaw's Challenge began in 2011 after meeting Hope, a child battling a terrible sickness without a family to lean on. Ellen and Clayton realized that Hope needed a loving home with parents to care for her in order to have the upbringing she deserved.

Kershaw's Challenge partners with like-minded organizations to make life better for vulnerable and at-risk children living in Los Angeles, Dallas, the Dominican Republic, Zambia, and beyond. Kershaw's Challenge is supporting BEB to launch its work in Nigeria, sharing CFS for free with the government alliance ASOHON – the Association of Orphanages and Home Operators in Nigeria.

"Children First Software is so critical for Nigeria because it provides statistics on children in residential care which can help the government monitor the movement of children and guide the formulation and implementation of policies for orphans and vulnerable children," shared Sandra Chikan, Vice President of ASOHON. There is still much work to be done to address these challenges, but the impact of CFS for the children of Nigeria will last for many years to come.

Thanks to the seed funding of Kershaw's Challenge, BEB's work in Africa is rapidly growing. Surrounding countries are seeing the success of BEB's work in partner countries like Uganda, Ethiopia and Nigeria and are ready to "sign on" and implement CFS to transform their child welfare systems.

"Ellen and Clayton Kershaw's voice for children in Dallas, Los Angeles and around the world is invaluable to the work of BEB and other beneficiaries. They are truly changing the lives of countless children," Margaret Elizabeth McKissack, Vice President of External Affairs.

Media Contact:
Margaret Elizabeth McKissack
[email protected]
214-850-7532

SOURCE Both Ends Believing