Anna Schwulst/The Falcon Last year, as a part of the first annual Social Venture Plan Competition Showcase, sophomore Brandon Teng established Care for Kids, a non-profit organization that directly helps African orphans through healthcare.

At only 19 years old, sophomore Brandon Teng is the board president, accountant and co-founder of non-profit organization "Care for Kids." Using the organization's business plan, he won last year's Social Ventures Plan Competition (SVPC), a competition sponsored by the School of Business and Economics to involve more students in business.

Care for Kids, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that currently works to assist children in Zambia and Uganda.

In Zambia, the organization is partnered with Chikumbuso, an organization that raises money to buy health cards produced by the Zambian government for orphaned children in that country. Each health card is able to provide primary health care for the children, including vaccines and care from medical professionals, such as splints and antibiotics. Five dollars is all it takes to give one child this health care for a whole year.

In Uganda, Care for Kids is currently raising money for Africa Village Ministries in Wamala, Uganda. It is assisting with education about first aid and hygiene, installing computers for an elementary school and raising money for medical supplies.

The organization plans to run even more campaigns in the future, according to their Web site CareForKidsOnline.org.

Care for Kids began one day in the summer of 2006, before Teng's freshman year at SPU, when he heard about Chikumbuso from fellow co-founder and current University of Washington (UW) sophomore Karman Tandon, an acquaintance of one of his friends.

He soon became interested in helping the organization, Teng said. Later that day, he met Joe Brown, a lawyer, who told Teng that he had been searching for a way to use his abilities as an attorney to serve others in the name of God.

"It was a real blessing from God," Teng said of the meeting. He ran an idea by Brown about starting a non-profit organization. Brown then donated his time and legal services for free to the co-founders, now three strong: Teng, Tandon and another friend, Jeremy Chan, a senior at UW. With Brown's help, the three started Care for Kids.

It wasn't easy, Teng said. The three had to format and sign a contract with Chikumbuso, obtain a non-profit business license in Washington state and apply for and gain a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service.

However, all the effort was worth it, Teng said, for they now support over 100 children overseas. Teng, along with his two business partners, was able to do all of this while living in Seattle and attending school.

Teng and Tandon's success in last year's SVPC allowed them yet another opportunity for their new non-profit.

One of the judges of the different social venture entries was a member of the African Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest and invited the two students to a banquet held at Seattle City Hall. Teng said that the two were able to present Care for Kids to the members of the Chamber that day and make connections with people who would be able to advise them with the new non-profit.

Care for Kids raises money mostly through fundraising, but they also apply for scholarships, work with other groups that do fundraise to increase support and awareness on different college campuses and they take donations through the organization's Web site.

Teng said they wouldn't mind if students used SPU's 37five Project to help them raise money.

Despite the fact that Care for Kids is not a Christian organization, all staff members are. Teng said that the organization is "a product of [his] faith in Christ." When asked about what his experience with Care for Kids has taught him, Teng likened it to SPU's motto of engaging the culture and changing the world. "It puts my faith practically across the world," he said.