AORF understands the harsh realities of life in Appalachia. Millions of innocent children are trapped in generational cycles of ignorance and poverty. A disturbing existence hides from the eyes of the general population, in the rural areas of Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
AORF mission is to provide:
Life saving Vaccinations
Acute and Chronic Illness Management
Hygiene and Wellness Supplies
Emergency Relief following natural disasters
and many other services in Appalachian region.
The facts on Appalachian region are astonishing.
1. Fundamentally, Central Appalachia’s problems stem from the fact that in an eighty county area, 72% of the surface acreage and 89% of the mineral rights are absentee-owned. Historically much of this land has been greatly under assessed and under taxed. As a result of this under taxation, local municipalities have had very little revenue to finance adequate educational systems, construct and maintain water and sewage treatment facilities, provide county landfills, roads, and basic health care.
2. Sixteen counties in central and eastern Kentucky are included on the most recent U.S. Census Bureau list of the 100 poorest counties in the nation.
3. Rates of poverty among children under the age of 18 in Appalachian Kentucky range from 17 percent in some counties to as high as 56.4 percent in others. One in three Appalachian children is born into poverty.
4. Almost 59 percent of the children living in AORF focused area are eligible to receive free or reduced-priced lunches. In one area, over 90 percent of the children are eligible.
5. Almost two-thirds of the Kentuckians who left welfare are working at jobs that pay less than then minimal allowed wage. Over 40% percent of families in some areas fall below the poverty line. Unemployment in some areas can be up to 50%. The average income for a family of four is $14, 000 a year.
6. Up to 2/3 of the households have no wastewater treatment, allowing gallons of untreated waste per day to enter streams and rivers. People are drinking untreated groundwater. Statistics are under-reported. Municipal water systems serve only a small percentage of the population.
7. Flood control is poorly managed. Some counties recently experienced two 100 year floods two years in a row.
8. In some areas of Appalachia, as many as 16.8 percent of the homes are classified as substandard. Their dwellings have many more inhabitants than the square footage should accommodate, and indoor plumbing is lacking.
In these pockets of despair, generations of children go to bed hungry every night in the land of plenty. Electricity, running water, and indoor plumbing have not yet arrived in many of these neighborhoods. Clothing and shoes are usually used over several times. Children will joyfully clutch food to their chest as if it were a prized toy.
All AORF’s efforts are directed to help create better lives for these children who find themselves, through no fault of their own, in the poorest, most disadvantaged regions in America.
Make a donation today that can bring real change to the lives of the children in Appalachia. Your tax-deductible gift will help provide meals to children suffering from hunger, and shelter for living in unimaginable conditions and so much more.