The James Fund
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...
James 1:27 NIV
Family Christian Stores® is America's leading specialty retailer with over 300 locations and over 5,000 employees in 38 states dedicated solely to the $4.3 billion Christian retailing market. Family Christian Stores® sells Christian products and church supplies through its chain of stores and via the Internet. Merchandising categories include Bibles, Books, Music, Children’s, Gifts, Apparel, Software, Cards, Church Supplies and DVD's.
In 2002, Family Christian Stores® began work on starting a foundation which would benefit orphans and widows. Using James 1:27 as inspiration, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...” (NIV) the foundation would do business as The James Fund. In August of 2003, Family Christian Stores' Foundation received its 501(c)(3) status from the IRS.
The James Fund is a non-profit organization founded by Family Christian Stores® to meet the needs of orphans and widows in the communities it serves. Family Christian Stores®, through its James Fund, partners with customers, suppliers, and artists in a shared mission; directly impact the lives of orphans and widows by showing them the love of our Heavenly Father.
The James Fund is compelled to action by the many promises God has made to orphans and widows in scripture. God promises to vindicate them, rescue them, deliver them, to hear them, to lift them up, to be their father, to meet their needs, to maintain their cause, and many other powerful promises. God intends to fulfill many of those promises through us, His church, as indicated in James 1:27. The James Fund has the honor of working with believers all across the country to be God's hands and feet to the fatherless and the widow. The James Fund is privileged to be a voice for the fatherless and a means for others to enter into God's work on behalf of the orphan and widow.
The James Fund serves orphans and widows in three primary ways. It provides adoption assistance to partner agencies, provides hands-on orphan care and it supports quality of life initiatives that will make a difference in the lives of orphans and widows.
The United Nations has identified 143,000,000 children in the world as orphans. Last year 122,000 of those children were adopted by families in the United States. These adoptions are truly wonderful, but the need of “unclaimed” children is breath-taking. The James Fund encourages Christians and local churches across America to address the orphan crisis by launching orphan care ministries.
The James Fund is delighted to know that we are making a difference in the lives of orphans - differences that will change children's lives forever. Here is one example:
Once orphans reach the age of 15 in Mexico, government funding for education ends. The teenagers are forced to leave the orphanages with minimal education and no job skills. In due time, these young people can find themselves married and with children of their own which they cannot support. The temptation is strong to turn their children over to the orphanages they themselves left. To break this cycle, The James Fund is partnering with Back2Back Ministries in Monterrey to build homes of hope for orphaned teens. Family Christian Stores' Foundation has invested $240,000 to build two of these homes. What thrills us with these homes of hope is that the orphans can live in a stable home of 8 boys or 8 girls along with house parents; receive free education to complete high school and college; be supervised in their studies; be mentored in resolving family issues; and be encouraged spiritually in their walk with the Lord. This powerful program will be life-impacting in breaking the cycle of poverty. This is huge!
The scriptural mandate of caring for orphans and widows in distress, as the one found in James 1:27, is a wonderful invitation to experience God in a profound way by being a part of His sovereign plan for His precious children. In our short existence, the Family Christian Stores’ James Fund has been able to impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of orphans and widows around the world.
Since its inception in 2003, The James Fund has...
- Donated over 1,000,000 stuffed bears, bunnies and lambs to orphans and children in need around the world, communicating the love of Jesus and the good news of the gospel.
- Donated $135,000 to aid orphans affected by the tsunami in India.
- Family Christian Stores® and The James Fund donated $100,000 to help hurricane relief efforts in the Gulf States.
- Sponsored 31 mission trips enabling Family Christian Stores® employees, vendor partners and artists the experience of serving orphans and widows through hands-on ministry opportunities.
- Funded and built a new boys’ dormitory at Casa Hogar Douglas, an orphanage in Monterrey, Mexico.
- Donated over $250,000 to adoption assistance agencies who offer grants to families seeking to adopt “forever” children.
- Donated $270,000 to build and support two teen homes in Back2Back Ministries’ Hope Program in Mexico. The Hope Program was born out of a desire to see orphaned teens move away from an institutional life and live in a home where they can grow academically, spiritually, and emotionally.
- Donated $100,000 for the purchase of a new Children’s Home in Monterrey, Mexico for 22 beautiful orphans at Rayitos de Luz (Little Rays of Light).
- Monthly sends $1,500 to Casa Hogar Manantial de Amor, an orphanage in Monterrey, Mexico to assist with their operating expenses.
- Family Christian Stores® and The James Fund donated over $130,000 to Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund for college grants and financial assistance to surviving children and spouses of our U.S. military service members who have lost their lives in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
- Annually, Family Christian Stores® opens it stores for a day to especially touch the lives of orphans and widows. We connect with over 6,000 orphans and widows in this annual James Fund “Day of Sharing” event.
- Since the inception of the James Fund in 2003, we have had a goal of helping Family Christian Stores® employees adopt children. The James Fund makes matching grants available to eligible FCS employees for up to $5,000 per adoption.
- Seen hundreds of families choose adoption; choose to start orphan care ministries in their local churches; or personally engage in hands-on work with orphans in various parts of the world.
Through The James Fund, you have the opportunity to share the miracle of love with children in need. Please consider making a donation to The James Fund. Checks should be made payable to The James Fund and sent to:
Family Christian Stores Foundation
The James Fund
5300 Patterson Avenue SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49530
Visit JamesFund.org for more information
The James Fund is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your donation is tax deductible.