Who is Frank Foundation?

Frank Foundation Child Assistance International (FFCAI) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide assistance to children throughout the world. FFCAI undertakes a variety of activities that are guided by two objectives: delivering immediate relief for children with the greatest need and sustaining ongoing efforts to eradicate suffering for all children. This mandate quickly expanded to include numerous cultural, humanitarian and educational programs that have helped hundreds of children and youth throughout Russia, Kazakhstan and Georgia.

FFCAI History

Frank Foundation Child Assistance International (FFCAI) was founded in December 1990 by Mr. Ronald Fraase and Dr. Nina Kostina. At the time, Mr. Fraase held the position of a senior executive with U.S. Wheat Associates as Vice President for Europe. Dr. Kostina, was in training for the position of U.S Wheat Program Director for the Soviet Union. Through the generous donation of ten tons of pasta by the U.S. based American-Italian Pasta Company Mr. Fraase and Dr. Kostina led a good-will project under the auspice of U.S. Wheat Associates to distribute the pasta products among needy individuals. Dr. Kostina learned of the plight of the Soviet Union’s most disadvantaged citizens: an estimated 1.5 million children were considered orphaned - children whose parents had passed away or whose parents were deemed unfit to care for children. On January 3, 1991, Mr. Fraase and Dr. Kostina began the week-long project of overseeing the charitable donation of the pasta to orphans. Crates and boxes of pasta were distributed to various orphanages in Russia. Highly acclaimed by both the Russian and American communities, the project was a tremendous success.

However generous, the donation was not nearly enough. Upon returning to the United States, Dr. Kostina started to receive inquiries from American couples expressing an interest in adopting children from the Soviet Union. During her free time, Dr. Kostina began researching the details on facilitating such adoptions. In November of 1991, Dr. Kostina assisted the first American family in adopting a child from an orphanage in Russia. Following this success, Dr. Kostina was flooded with phone calls from other families desiring the same outcome. Later that year, Mr. Fraase and Dr. Kostina co-founded the organization "Frank Associates Child Assistance International".

Since its establishment, Frank Foundation Child Assistance International has grown into a multi-faceted organization serving the needs of thousands of children and families throughout the world. Approximately 10,000 children have been placed in homes with the assistance of the FFCAI. The activities of the Frank Foundation have expanded to include professional, educational and cultural exchange programs, medical evacuations and humanitarian health care support, training programs for professional dealing with issues related to children, and charitable donations to hospitals and orphanages throughout the former Soviet Union. Programs and projects strive to provide links between nations, governments, states, cities, organizations and citizens in order to improve the quality of life for the world’s children.

Although the organization has grown and the programs have expanded to encompass many different issues as they relate to children, FFCAI’s mission remains simple: While it is important to work towards implementing global, large-scale, long term programs to improve the equality of life for children everywhere, urgent action must be taken to give each child the right to have parents, a home, and a childhood regardless of national boundaries.

For more information about Frank Foundation, visit their website at www.frankfoundationcai.org

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