CROSS INTERNATIONAL INC

Cross International serves the poor in more than 25 countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia – including Haiti, Mozambique and the Philippines. The organization provides resources to meet a wide variety of needs, including food, clothing, projects for safe water, medicines and medical equipment for clinics, materials for schools and self-help programs, houses for the homeless and micro-enterprise loans to promote self-sufficiency. Virtually all of these efforts are organized through Christian churches already in place overseas, which allows Cross International to offer one of the most cost effective charitable outreaches in the country. Since its inception, 95 percent or more of donations received are used for program services, with less than 5 percent used for administrative and fund-raising expenses. Cross is also noteworthy for offering donors opportunities to sponsor unique projects and urgent needs. The charity provides a project catalog of these needs on its website and donors who participate can use this process to fund efforts of many types in various countries. For example, an individual can sponsor the construction of a house for a group of AIDS orphans in a specific village in Africa or supply food to a specific school in Haiti or contribute to a medical outreach in the Philippines. Some projects are also seasonal or focused on special interest groups. For example, Cross International’s Harmony of Hearts program involves church worship teams and choirs in a music presentation that can benefit the poor overseas. Other programs are geared to church school use and highlight back-to-school programs, home building and other specific goals.  While Cross International has been recognized by the U.S. government for its effectiveness and professionalism, most of the funding for the charity’s programs come from U.S. Christians and U.S. churches seeking to sponsor specific projects that will have a direct and meaningful impact on the poor.

<p>Cross International's goal is to make individuals and communities self-sufficient and many of its programs are specifically designed with that aim in mind.&nbsp;Many of the partners Cross works with have also developed greater capacity for service as a result of the support, growing their outreaches from small ministries into more sophisticated programs capable of greater service to the poor.</p>

Because Cross International targets unique, specific projects, the short term successes are direct and immediate.&nbsp; Sponsors who support projects are provided with follow-up reports and full final reports when work is completed.

Cross International's vice president of missions and staff of field directors travel overseas regularly to visit sponsored programs and monitor the use of funds.&nbsp; The organization's accounting department is experienced with international missions work and performs professional audits&nbsp;and detailed&nbsp;financial reporting.

Cross International is part of the Cross Alliance, which has provided the poor more than $1 billion in aid since its inception in 2001.&nbsp; Hundreds of individual projects have been successfully funded as a result.&nbsp; Independent studies have proven the effectiveness of this work.&nbsp; For example, medical teams have reported significant drops in infant/child fatalities in areas where Cross has launched safe water projects, feeding centers and/or medical outreaches.