Author seeks to inspire women to recognize their worth
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Cheryl Saban is an author, producer, philanthropist, child advocate, wife, mother of four, and grandmother of three. Married to Haim Saban, CEO of the Saban Capital Group, she and her husband have been active participants in the welfare and improvement of children's lives for many years.
Dedicated to improving the lives of children and women, Cheryl Saban has been a Plan USA child sponsor for many years. We recently asked her to elaborate on her relationship with Plan and on how Plan's mission has helped fuel her work. The following article is her response:
"My relationship with Plan USA started with a very simple act on my part – the sponsorship of one child. My involvement grew slowly over the years to include sponsorships of several children in critical need. I know that with the aid these kids receive from Plan child sponsorships, they’ll get a fighting chance to live happier, healthier lives, and their families, particularly their mothers, will get much needed support as well. It’s a comforting thought.
"My latest book, What is Your Self-Worth: A Woman’s Guide to Validation was in many ways fueled by my indignation at the staggering, discriminatory realities of the state of the world’s girls and women. Heart-wrenching details can be found in Plan's seminal work, “Because I am a Girl.”
What is your Self-Worth is a self-help guide, journal, and compendium of shared wisdom to inspire women to recognize our innate worth, and to use our collective voices to support each other. Women keep our communities and families together, and with the right kind of tools, I believe women will change the world. I’m determined to do my part to help to provide those tools, and to bring about those changes. All of my author’s proceeds on this book are being donated to women’s funds and projects that will help change the lives of women now.
"Working with Plan USA fits perfectly with my own personal quest. I feel mightily blessed to be living the life I do, and I’m determined to give back to society to help others reach their highest potential as well.
"I direct my time, energy and financial resources to organizations and programs that help the under-served children of our communities, both in the U.S and abroad. I believe in the amazing capacity of community service, and the idea that each and every one of us can make a difference. With that in mind, I wrote a book entitled 50 Ways to Save Our Children, created a non-profit organization, and launched a website, www.50ways.org, to connect other caring individuals to recognized non-profit organizations like Plan USA, that serve the critical needs of the world’s most desperate women, children, and families.
"Though sponsoring individual children is important, I was eager to do something that could help more than one, two or even ten individuals. So, Plan USA’s brilliant team and I came up with a way to expand my personal outreach beyond a few sponsorships into something that would make a significant difference for hundreds, if not thousands of people. This is how I became involved with the Homa Bay District Hospital in Kenya. 
"My non-profit, 50ways.org and I took on the responsibility of raising $54,000 to help renovate a healthcare facility in the South Nyanza region of Kenya that was the sole provider of surgical services for a population of nearly 400,000. I was thrilled to be able to work with Plan on this project, and energized to do more. When I turned my focus to women, and began research for my new book, What is Your Self-Worth, I was once again inspired by Plan.
"I am proud of my association with Plan USA. Their commitment to the welfare and wellbeing of children, men and women, should be an inspiration to us all . . . they’ve certainly had a major impact on me."
