Retail Orphan Initiative

09/06/2026

Today at the time we would normally be trying to figure out where to go to Sunday brunch, we instead shared perhaps the only hot meal of the week to families that live in and near the “sanitorio” - dump. There are no words to adequately describe your feelings in this process. Just gratefulness to Elvin Emanuel Cerna and his faithfulness.

09/05/2026

Nick Fagnano was two weeks from starting at USC when a lightning strike at Venice Beach took his life on July 27, 2014. The odds were one in 750 million.

Twelve years later, his life continues to reach hundreds of students through Thrive in Joy's C11 Strength of Character Clubs in LA charter high schools.

RetailROI's support helps fund a USC work-study partnership that brought Amy Godinez into the program as coordinator. Raised by a single mother working as a housekeeper, Amy launched a Winter Wonderland toy drive and earned a full scholarship to the USC Marshall School of Business. She now helps students see college as a future within reach.

Since 2021, every senior student lead has been accepted to a four-year college. Your gift helps Nick's ripple reach one more student and one more future.



https://www.retailroi.org/thriveinjoy

09/04/2026

Floodwater was climbing the stairs of the girls' dormitory at Lifesong for Orphans' Marshall campus in Liberia.

Your support through RetailROI helped repair the roof and fund a walled dining pavilion with real tables. The dormitory now stays dry, and children who once ate on the ground or on tree stumps have a seat at the table.

For the 80 children who call the campus home and the nearly 600 children served by its school, that seat says something powerful: You are valued, seen, and worth investing in.

Thank you for helping create room for brighter futures.



https://www.retailroi.org/lifesongliberia

06/18/2026

06/18/2026

We are so grateful for Aptos for thinking outside the box. Instead of just playing golf for their corporate event, they decided to help kids in the foster system along with Tennessee Alliance for Kids. Well done!

06/05/2026

What happens when Retail comes together....

05/16/2026

2 Years of Rain in 2 Days - PLEASE HELP

This didn't make the news due to the war, US-China Summit and all the other things taking air time, but our partners in South Africa were devastated by a record storm and floods last week. We could really use your help.

All 3 of the schools we work with sustained damage and many of the students, some teachers and their families lost everything.

To put this storm in perspective, they got 2 years of rain (35 inches) - in 48 hours! The reservoir went from 36% full (near emergency drought levels) to 119% capacity in less than 36 hours, dumping 6 million gallons per second over the dam downstream, devastating communities!

The good news is we are uniquely positioned to help with relationships with 3 schools in the area.

The better news is we have a matching grant up to $25,000 of your donations

So your donation will be doubled up to $25,000.

Can you help? More pictures below

https://retailroi-bloom.kindful.com/?campaign=1414081&blm_aid=25986

05/11/2026

Celebrate with us – RetailROI Surpasses $6.2m in Grants Awarded, helping over 393,000 children.

We wanted to start your week off on a positive note. Last week, the Retail Orphan Initiative board met and awarded our grants for 2026 and we realized we blew past a pretty significant number.
Through your support of SuperSaturday, March Gladness and personal donations, RetailROI has been able to grant over $6.2 million in over 388 projects in 34 countries giving a hand up to an estimated 393,000 children. I’m still trying to let that sink in…
We (the board and the charities we have supported) are so humbled by your support.

Soon we will be doing a much better job of sharing the specific stories of children you have impacted. As a volunteer only charity, we have been limited in sharing the details because we all have our day jobs. We are pledging to do better at that.
But today we CELEBRATE. Thank you, Thank you.

For those not familiar, RetailROI is a grassroots charity of do-gooders in the retail industry that use our skills, networks and companies to come along side great feet on the street charities making a huge impact where we can double, triple or quadruple their impact.

To learn more, donate or participate in a trip – please visit www.retailroi.org