Charity Spotlight: Bright Future International
Tags: Russia, Education, Youth
Bright Future International (BFI) is a charitable organization dedicated to helping underprivileged children around the world. It funds arts and educational enrichment programs for children through partnerships with local and international organizations that seek to instill values of compassion, self-esteem, and the desire to help others.
Founded in 2008 by Mr. Anthony Melikhov, a former pharmaceutical executive from Minsk, Belarus, BFI represents his personal calling to find inner happiness and peace by helping the children of the word find fulfillment and self-actualization through the arts and education.
Bright Future International has put their trust in CAF America to facilitate their giving to Russia, with two impactful programs called Bright Future Studios in Chelyabinsk and Kyshtym (a town in the Chelyabinsk region). The pilot program in Chelyabinsk aimed to give underserved children, single parent families, foster families, and others a chance for successful socialization and personal growth. The impact of this program, though small in numbers, has been life-altering for these children and their families.
BFI’s work has been so successful that they created a second, more narrow program in Kyshtym, a town within the region of Chelyabinsk. Here, 50 children between the ages of 8 and 14 are given free classes in history and culture, including trips to theaters, museums, doing community service, along with physical education, communications (including English lessons), and environmental education.
Funding programs such as these requires a deep commitment from the donor and extensive back-end work. Giving internationally can be very challenging, but giving to regions with very stern regulative arena governing charitable giving can make grantmaking nearly impossible without the correct expertise and know-how.
