What is Little Care?
Little Care is a small Non-Government Organization (NGO), officially registered as a Foundation, working in the field of Community Service.

The Establishment of Little Care
Little Care was formed by a social volunteer (Mrs. Indah Richardson) on 21 May, 1998 in Surabaya, when Indonesia was hit by the monetary crisis, which especially affected the poorer levels of society.

Little Care started very simply, based only on social conscience. Starting with some of her own money, and together with two friends who also contributed funds, Little Care was able to purchase 600 kg of rice. This was distributed to help a poor community living on the outskirts of the city of Surabaya, who had become short of food, because at that time the price of rice had suddenly increased to Rp 5,000 per kg (previously only about Rp 1,500 per kg) as a result of the economic crisis.

Little Care becomes a Foundation
Trying to help the worst affected people in the urban community of greater Surabaya and other cities, Little Care started to raise funds in the form of donations from local groups of people. At that time the immediate problem was the price of staple foods, so with the funds raised Little Care focused on purchasing rice, sugar, cooking oil and other staples, and channeled these directly to the needy.

Then a new problem arose for the poorer communities, when children of school age were forced to drop out of school because their parents became unemployed, and could no longer afford to pay the school fees for their children. Concerned about the future of these children, Little Care widened the scope of activities to include payment of school fees for poor children, so that they could continue their education.

As time went on, the number of requests for assistance received by Little Care increased, from the small to the relatively large (orphanages, homes for the disabled, non-Government schools, street children, garbage recyclers, etc.). From then on Little Care became not only concerned with staple foods and education, but took on any kind of aid needed by the poorer sections of society, especially in the cities of Jakarta, Jogjakarta and Surabaya, and on the islands of Sumba and Flores.

Little Care then continued to seek support from citizens of Surabaya, and expatriates who were working in the area around Surabaya at the time, as Little Care was in a weak position financially. Their trust encouraged Little Care to continue working to help the poor members of society. With the encouragement and financial support of the donors, mostly expatriates living in Surabaya, Little Care developed to become an officially registered Foundation on 14th July 2003.

Effective Use of Funds
In order that funds are used effectively, aid is not usually given in the form of cash donations (except for school fees and medical assistance), but in the form of goods or construction. In all cases, cash and goods are handed over directly to recipients, and not through a third party.

From the beginning, Little Care held the principle that money provided by donors was to be channeled in full to the needy. As the staff of Little Care are all volunteers, our administration and overhead costs are kept to a bare minimum.

Transparency
The transparent use of funds is also very important. Little Care always invites donors to witness handing over of money or equipment to recipients. If they are unable to attend, Little Care sends donors a detailed report.