Save the Children

For close to four decades, the Davis family has supported Save the Children, an international non-profit dedicated to ensuring children grow up healthy, educated, and safe. Their long-term support has taken the form of funding to meet the urgent needs of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, relief and education efforts throughout the developing world, efforts to address rural poverty in the U.S., and emergency support to children and their families during the COVID pandemic.

“Save the Children’s global footprint, professionalism, and ability to respond rapidly and communicate impact effectively have all been strong factors driving our support,” says Molly Davis Macleod.

In recent years, the Foundation has prioritized issues related to rural poverty in the U.S., with a focus on strengthening children’s school readiness. In Kentucky, for example, where 42 percent of children ages 3 to 5 are not enrolled in nursery school, preschool, or kindergarten, DFCF supports Save’s “Early Steps to Success,” “KinderBoost,” and “SummerBoost” programs. The programs assist children under five through school-age with their social and emotional development, kindergarten readiness, and achieving grade-level reading standards, to narrow the achievement gap between students living in rural communities and their urban and suburban peers.

“It is not common for individual donors to fund advocacy work. They have to have a bigger picture view toward making long-term change.”

Christine Samuel

DFCF also supports the Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) in the U.S. SCAN champions bipartisan solutions that benefit children at the local, state, and federal levels. “Depending on the year, we identify states where we can rally support for child-friendly candidates, a policy, or budgeting decisions—and where we can make significant change,” says Christine Samuel, Save’s Senior Director of Individual Philanthropy. “It is not common for individual donors to fund advocacy work,” she adds. “They have to have a bigger picture view toward making long-term change, which the Davis family really understands and incorporates into their strategic philanthropy.”

Beyond direct financial support, the family has hosted fundraising events, particularly to rally support for Save’s work on behalf of refugees. And through Save’s One Hundred Strong initiative, a leadership network of engaged women philanthropists, Molly Davis Macleod works with other members to dig deeper into the challenging issues facing children and families in the U.S. and around the world to strengthen the individual and collective impact of their philanthropy and partnership with the organization.