Children's Defense Fund

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is a non-profit child advocacy organization with the capacity to work for children at federal, state and community levels across the country. We champion policies and programs that lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education and a moral and spiritual foundation. Supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations, CDF advocates nationwide on behalf of children to ensure children are always a priority.

CDF’s Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. Full Mission Statement »

CDF Freedom Schools® Program

The goal of the CDF Freedom Schools program, a summer and after-school literacy program developed by Children’s Defense Fund, is to help children fall in love with reading and boost their motivation to achieve. Children are taught using a research-based multicultural curriculum that supports children and families around five components: high quality academic enrichment; parent and family involvement; civic engagement and social action; intergenerational leadership development; and nutrition, health and mental health.

Since 1995, 2,860 children and youth in the Washington Metro area have been served. Last summer, there were nine CDF Freedom Schools programs operating in the Washington Metro area serving 550 children with free breakfast, lunch and snacks and a strong integrated reading curriculum taught by college students. A 2010 evaluation of the program’s impact on the reading ability of students enrolled in the CDF Freedom Schools programs in Charlotte, N.C., conducted by the Center for Adolescent Literacies at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, confirmed the program staunches summer learning loss and benefitted 90 percent of the children by helping them maintain or improve their reading ability. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said: “I have been to hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of schools around the country, and I will tell you my visits to Freedom Schools have been amongst my most inspiring and the most memorable. But when I see success, I just want more students to have those kinds of opportunities, and what I consistently see there is remarkable for children.” Support the CDF Freedom Schools program and help level the playing field for thousands of low-income children next summer. CDF Freedom Schools program has served over 90,000 K – 12 children nationwide since 1995, and trained over 12,000 college students and young adult staff to deliver this empowering model.

2011 Beat the Odds® Scholarship Recipients

On November 15th, CDF will honor five high school students from Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia who are succeeding and moving on to college despite overwhelming challenges at our annual Beat the Odds awards event. These young people have overcome great adversity, demonstrated academic excellence and have given back to their community. Each student receives a $10,000 scholarship, a laptop computer, guidance through the college admissions process, and an invitation to join CDF’s leadership training programs—putting them on the path to college and successful adulthood.

Join Marian Wright Edelman, president of CDF; Geoffrey Canada, CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone; Ali Wentworth, actor and comedian; Malaak Compton-Rock, actor and philanthropist; and Malik Yoba, former star of New York Undercover, for an inspirational celebration with these young people. Please donate and support our Beat the Odds Scholarship Fund.

Here’s a sneak preview of this year’s Beat the Odds scholarship recipients.

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