The Oliver Fund is a non-profit organization (501(c)3) dedicated to improving children’s standard of living and sense of community in underdeveloped countries. This organization was started by Jared and Sarah Bauer in honor of their now deceased son Oliver. Oliver was born with a heart defect and died on Valentine’s Day 2009 just one day shy of eight months old. The influence that Oliver’s life had on his family and those who knew him was profound. His radiant smile and bright eyes warmed the hearts of all he met. In the same way that Oliver brought light to the lives he touched, the Oliver Fund tries to recreate that light by working to improve the lives of children throughout the world. While our mission is broad our initial focus is children’s quality of life through play. Levels of activity and active play are high contributors to the factors determining a child’s physical well being, and subsequently overall quality of life. Children without access to active play are our main concern. These would include children in refugee camps, in underdeveloped cities and villages, and children who may live in a temporary housing due to natural disasters or displacements. The physical nature of learning through play is fundamental for increasing a child’s ability to cope, reason and learn. We at the Oliver Fund feel all children deserve to be served with the playtime they need. Our solutions to these issues are to give the children healthy diversions that allow them to learn and grow through physical and imaginative play. Simple sporting equipment such as indestructible soccer balls, durable jump ropes, and dolls allow children to learn team building, community involvement, and create a sense of ownership. Our fundraising efforts are focused on purchasing indestructible soccer balls, soccer goals, jump ropes, and dolls to send with our network partners to regions around the world where children have little to no access to these amenities. Our belief in distributing the items in this way is that there is a greater degree of knowledge surrounding the needs of the community with these experienced groups. Most items are given to medical teams who are acting globally to care for those in need. Sending the equipment with these individuals concentrates our efforts to those who are in need, but also with the intention that it give a happy diversion to aid in lifting the spirits of the affected community.