NORTH AMERICA: Plan's offices in USA and Canada have long been important contributors to the global cause to help all children have a future. While raising significant public funds, Plan is also an influential partner with USAID and CIDA.

Here is an example of how Plan USA, as a fundraising office in North America, promotes its work for and with children in developing countries.

About Schmidt, the film starring Jack Nicholson, as a Plan-Childreach sponsor, and Kathy Bates, received rave reviews when it screened internationally in 2002.

Abdala (Ndugu in the film) is a real child and lives in a Plan-assisted community in Tanzania. In the movie, when Jack Nicholson.s character Warren Schmidt sponsors Abdala, he gains renewed hope through his sponsorship and correspondence with Abdala.

While the Plan link in About Schmidt was not as clear to Australian audiences due to Plan operating as Plan-Childreach in the US, the child sponsorship message and how this benefits children, their families and communities raised awareness to millions of people, not just in Australia, but worldwide.

The publicity for Plan and its work for and with children came about following a phone asking if Plan-Childreach would be interested in being the child sponsorship organisation featured in About Schmidt.

It was a question Plan's US office did not need too long to think about. What an opportunity to showcase Plan!

"Once we had seen the script, we jumped on board," says a Plan US spokesperson. "It was brilliant. Really brilliant. And Plan-Childreach sponsorship was prominent! Sponsorship was the thread that ran all the way through this richly layered, dark comedy . right up to its unforgettable, final scene.

"After meeting with director Alexander Payne, we all came to one conclusion . the sponsored child featured in the film had to be real, not a child actor. Mr Payne wouldn't have it any other way.

The child, Abdala . called "Ndugu" in the film - is now sponsored by the About Schmidt production crew, who created a lifetime Endowed Sponsorship. "The ultimate point for Plan-Childreach is children. Sponsorship is real. The child you sponsor is real. You can change a child's life, maybe even your own."

"We're all pretty small in the grand scheme of things. The most we can hope for is to make a difference."

Warren Schmidt in About Schmidt.