From time to time we spotlight an organization that we think is doing superlative work on behalf of children in need (see our post on Niños de Guatemala). With more than 2,000 facilities in 132 countries and territories, the Austria-based SOS Children’s Villages has helped about 73,000 children and young people find homes and given more than 1.2 million children and adults access to social services ranging from schools to medical centers.

With a general focus on children’s education, health and rights, SOS Children’s Villages works to form a national association with its own statutes and boards of director in each country where it operates. With membership in the international umbrella association, the smaller groups can apply for funding and request services. The organization embraces the web as a way to spread its message and connect its stories with the public. Check out Mexico’s page for an example.

SOS Children’s Villages was founded in 1949 by Hermann Gmeiner. By the end of the following decade, associations were running in France, Germany and Italy. In the 1960s, work began in Asia (South Korea) and Latin America (Uruguay), and the first African efforts began in the 1970s in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya and Sierra Leone. Last year, as SOS celebrated its 60th anniversary, the 500th Children’s Village opened.

More recently, shortly after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti’s capital, a team from SOS’ Dominican Republic group hired a helicopter to travel to Santo, where SOS Children’s Villages runs one of its facilities. The team didn’t gain permission to land, but members were able to shoot video of the area, about 10 miles from Port-au-Prince, to help show outsiders how severe the destruction was. Check out the video here.

Among the organization’s other recent noteworthy projects was its November effort to provide food and advice on hygiene and sanitation to families in El Salvador affected by the tropical storm that hit the area at the beginning of that month.

Child and village sponsorships are just two of the ways you can support this organization. For other options and additional information about SOS Children’s Villages, visit their website at: http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org