We provide tools for success to help disadvantaged children build a better future

Our mission is to fund professionally guided programs dealing with health, education and the prevention of abuse. The use of the funds donated by FAAFC is always earmarked for specific projects and closely monitored.

The Board of Directors selects beneficiary institutions by evaluating their programs in light of the guidelines & criteria set forth by FAAFC’s mission. After selection, the Board closely monitors the project through annual reviews of the charity, its grants and financial statements. It is the recipients’ responsibility to distribute the donated funds in accordance to FAAFC guidelines.

Additionally, FAAFC makes one-time donations to similarly selected disaster relief organizations that benefit children. We distribute 100% of our proceeds every year. The funds are raised through special events, membership dues and occasional donations. Our main event is an annual benefit – the Bal des Berceaux - produced and coordinated by a committee of volunteers. Its tradition goes back to a wartime fundraiser organized in 1942 by the Junior Committee with the purpose of sending financial aid to Les Berceaux de Rouen, a French orphanage founded by the American philanthropist Seymour Houghton. (The name derives from the nurturing image of infants in their cradles). The Bal des Berceaux is an internationally renowned debutante ball: in 2009, ten debutantes and their escorts were presented to a distinguished audience who attended the event at the Plaza Hotel in New York

Recent Masters of Ceremonies were Charlie Rose and Jim Rosenfield, while some of the eminent guests from the arts and the entertainment industry in recent years included John Sexton, Felicia Taylor, I.M. Pei, Frederic Fekkai, Arman, Mary McFadden, Robin Leach, Raquel Welch, Margaux Hemingway, Edward Herrmann, Roger Moore and Sigourney Weaver, as well as the regular attendance by leaders in the worlds of diplomacy, finance and business.

This year’s benefit will take place on Friday, May 7, 2010 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. It is placed under eminent diplomatic patronage and will feature a Live Auction of extraordinary lots and a Raffle. Also a successful Holiday shopping event will be held on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York.