Feeding the Orphans began on a car ride home in the heart of a seven-year-old girl who could not forget the images she had seen of childhood poverty. From the back seat, young Sydney O’Leary told her mom that she did not want dinner. Through tears she asked for bread instead and said, “Why should we eat like kings and queens when they have nothing?”
That question became a conviction. Sydney designed a simple t-shirt to raise money for children in need. What looked small was a seed God would grow far beyond one child’s idea.
Sydney lit the match. Her parents carried the light. Righ and Kristie O’Leary said yes to a calling that would reshape their family. They worked, prayed, and kept showing up. Doors opened in Ghana through faithful local leaders. What began with a shirt grew into relationships, then into the care of real children with real names and real futures.
On the ground in Ghana, we learned quickly. Although the orphan crisis itself is overwhelming, it’s not just about children without parents. It is also about families under pressure, single mothers without income, and communities without the support and infrastructure to keep people together. The work we were called to had to be bigger than just building a home or providing a meal. It had to be a path that protects children, strengthens families, and builds communities to the glory of God.
That is how our three pillars of care took shape.
Along the way, the O’Leary family adopted four children from Ghana. Many friends of this ministry have welcomed children into their homes as well. Adoption is not the focus of FTO, but these stories reflect our belief that every child belongs in a family and that love is strongest when it takes root close to home.
None of this happens alone. Every caregiver in Ghana, every pastor and director, every person that has bought a t-shirt or an item from Esther’s Hope, and every sponsor – whether you are a child sponsor, an education sponsor, a church sponsor, or a major gift sponsor – each of you stands inside this story. Your gifts become food on the table, school fees paid, safe beds, clean water, tools in a workshop, and salaries for Ghanaian staff who lead with wisdom and love or tuck a child in at night. Prayer steadies the work. Accountability and stewardship keep trust strong.
From the beginning, the center of this work has been Christ and the people of Ghana themselves. Local leaders guide decisions. Donors and partners come alongside. Together we form a community that believes every child should grow up safe, educated, and full of hope.
This is still Sydney’s question, answered one child at a time. It is also the story of a mom and dad who said yes, a team in Ghana who leads with courage, and a wide circle of people who choose to give, pray, and show up. God planted the seed. He continues to give the growth.
