Question about writing letters Cancel Title is required

I am new to sponsorship, and don't know what to write in my letters to my sponsored child. I got my first letter from my sponsored child that his mother wrote because he is not old enough to write yet. I have yet to write a letter to my sponsored child, because I have no idea what is appropriate to write and such. Also, don't know if I should make it out to my sponsored child or his mother for the time being? Any tips on letter writing and what I should include in the letter and not include in the letter? Thanks for any advice.

Thanks for the reply, I will be writing to my sponsored child John Usher in the next few days. I just wanted to get some tips on what I could say in my first letter, so I appreciate the reply. Yeah, I am not prone to writing awful things, I was just curious on if they don't want you mentioning money you donate or anything like that.

Alright thanks for that tip, I agree with you on not mentioning extra gifts.

The staff take the children to the store to shop, so the majority of the time the photos are taken at the stores - in the Philippines the stores even have areas set aside so that the staff can take the photos with a CI banner in the background.  Of course, if the families receive large items the staff does drop the kids and items off at the families home, so neighbors do see what they received. 

Debbie, would you say large or expensive gifts from certain sponsors to certain children are a problem or are they overall beneficial for the community?

If by large or expensive you mean community projects -- like a latrine, a well, playground equipment, school furniture, books for a library -- then it is benefits a LOT of children and are appreciated.

If you mean SNG given solely for a child, then it would not benefit the community. 

If I have missed the point of your question, please let me know. 

 Debbie, CI has never discouraged lavish SNGs and DPs, has it?

There have been instances in which we've received SNG that are so large the field staff has asked that it be used for a community rather than an individual family so as to not cause jealousy within the neighborhood and make the family a target for thieves. 

Of course, we have no control of DP's and I would think that if a sponsor included expensive items they probably would not make it through the postal and customs services (items would be stolen) or they would be so heavily taxed that sponsors could not afford to pay the duties and the package is just "lost."  This scenario has played out many times since we began the DP program.

About six months ago a sponsor sent a package and the customs office wanted our office to pay a customs fee of $158. We contacted the sponsor who choose not to pay and assumed that the package would be returned (which is  what typically happens). Well the sponsor contacted us recently because it's been 5 months and the package had never turned up.  USPS said apparently it's lost in the mail.  

If we receive a large gift for a specific child ($1000+) we do send a memo to the SOA and let them know about the donation and ask for specific uses.  We then contact the sponsor and make sure they are okay with the usage before sending the funds to the SOA.