ASHEVILLE, NC – Five ministries have been named as the regional winners of WORLD’s 12th annual Hope Awards for Effective Compassion. And voting has begun for the overall grand prize winner.
The annual Hope Award honors organizations that demonstrate the power of effective compassion by fostering life change through personal, Christ-centered help to those in need. Each year, five regional awards go to organizations that embody all that the Hope Award stands for, qualifying them for the overall grand prize. Upon the announcement of the regional finalists, the public then votes to decide the overall winner.
The finalists for 2017 were chosen from among 95 profiles across the U.S. and internationally. Online voting for this year’s overall winner ends on September 1, 2017. The organization garnering the most votes will receive a $15,000 grand prize. Regional winners receive $2,000 each, plus publicity and increased credibility that they often fruitfully use in their own areas to multiply those dollars. The regional finalists include:
- Southwest: Navajo Ministries, Farmington, NM—a place for kids, communicating Christian values and hope to Navajo children for 64 years
- Southeast: Delta Streets Academy, Greenwood, MS—a Christian school creating a new pattern to fight deep poverty and despair
- Northeast: New Life Home, Manchester, NH—an opioid recovery program for women where children remain an integral part of their mothers’ daily lives
- Northwest: Hope Pregnancy Ministries, Kalispell, MT—a pregnancy center walking with women and their babies from conception to birth and beyond
- International: Village of Hope, Chisamba, Zambia—an African orphanage caring for poor and orphaned children while promoting economic sustainability
“Thank you to all the WORLD members who have over the years nominated local Christian poverty-fighting groups that offer challenging, personal, and spiritual help and do not depend on government financing,” said Marvin Olasky, WORLD’s editor-in-chief. “The five ministries we’ve profiled are like arrows in the hands of poverty-fighting warriors. Blessed is the region that fills its quiver with them.”
About the Hope Awards for Effective Compassion:
The Hope Awards for Effective Compassion are sponsored by WORLD News Group, a nonprofit organization that produces WORLD Magazine, WORLD Radio, and WORLD Digital, all dedicated to providing clarity in the news through wise insights into the stories that matter most. To learn more about WORLD and its award-winning Christian worldview journalism, visit wng.org.