Q: Why help the extremely poor of Brazil?

A: There is a drastic difference between being poor in the United States and being poor in Brazil. The poor families and organizations we help are "invisible" for all intents and purposes to the small existing government-run assistance programs. They lack the most basic necessities to survive from day to day. They have nothing but hope!

• 15.6 million inhabitants (51.4% of the rural population) live below the poverty line.

• 22.4% of the population lives on less than two dollars per day.

• The number of street-abandoned children has reached epic proportions.

• Teachers do not have adequate visual aids like globes, geography maps and science charts.

• School offices do not have steel bureaus or steel racks.

• Classrooms are hot and do not have fans.

• The lunch that many children receive at school is the only food they will have each day.

• Classroom walls are bare and plain without any charts and maps to be used as visual aids for learning. They do not have globes, maps, and science charts.

• Several classrooms contain blackboards that are so old they are rendered useless.

• In many cases, teachers are not paid for months.

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Q: How will we meet our objectives?

A: We either monitor the site and donation recipients ourselves or we have a local contact validate them for us. All of our approved projects have had their needs personally evaluated and approved by us.

We deliver supplies and materials whenever possible and hire local resources as needed. We often receive requests for assistance to specific projects, usually started by local groups that could not obtain enough funding to bring the project to fruition. In these cases, we validate the projects and approve pending funds as they become available.

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Q: Can I participate in any project?

A: Yes, we will soon have information posted that will allow you to "Adopt a project" and "Be an angel"

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Q: What are the executed/ongoing projects?

A: To view our past and current projects, please click here.

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Q: Are my donations tax deduct-able?

A: Yes, your donations tax-exempt under (501) (c) 3 (http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/index.html).

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Q: How does Angels for Brazil know that the money was spent properly?

A: The majority of our projects are executed and managed by our onsite volunteers and supervised by our board. All expenses are kept to a minimum and must be pre-approved by the Treasurer. After project completion, all receipts must be submitted as well as photos and other evidence for our records in order to follow the strict tax-exempt accounting guidelines established by the state of California and the IRS.

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About Brazil:

In urban Brazil, virtually 90% of all households have access to water and the supply comes from a public plumbing system, but sewage disposal is still an issue to be addressed by the government. The population's health is at risk due to the degrading effects the sewage system has on the environment. Currently, only a little over one half (52.5%) of Brazilian households are connected to the public sewage system but many don't have proper access to sewage treatment systems.