With one-on-one counseling and modest financial assistance to cover schooling, career training and some basic necessities, youngsters who would otherwise be tied to a life of poverty are now building a better future for themselves and their families.

LAUNCH support is customized to each child's needs and the family's financial circumstances - an approach that allows us to maximize the impact of available funding. For example, to get an education in the Kingdom of Lesotho - a country that doesn't provide free public schooling - children often need tuition assistance. In the South African township of Alexandra, where schooling is free but grossly inadequate, a talented child may need transportation to a school that can offer the education that he or she will need to escape grinding poverty.

With the help of contributions from generous donors, LAUNCH subsidizes school tuitions, provides uniforms, buys textbooks and other school supplies, and covers expenses for food, clothing and medicine on an as-needed basis. In return, LAUNCH children are expected to strive for academic excellence and to be responsible citizens of the world around them.

• $100 will pay for a child's school uniform, including shoes.
  
• $200 will cover annual bus transportation to a school where a child
  from Alexandra can get an adequate education.
  
• $500 will pay the school fees of a high school student, including books, equipment, exam fees and summer vacation classes.
  
• $1500 will provide a year of post-high school technical training.
  
• $4000 will pay the annual college tuition for an exceptional high school graduate.