President George H.W. Bush exchanged letters with a 7-year-old Filipino child who he sponsored for 10 years through the international nonprofit charity, Compassion International.
The late former president used a pseudonym while corresponding with the boy, named Timothy, according to CNN, and sent him funds that helped send him to school, supported his extracurricular ambitions and helped keep him fed.
George H.W. Bush sponsored a Filipino child for 10 years, using a pseudonym to keep his identity a secret. Read some of the letters the former President and the boy sent each other https://t.co/ng0t1skHnO pic.twitter.com/Ne51KaG7GI
— CNN (@CNN) December 19, 2018
The letters, shared with CNN by the organization, were confirmed as authentic by Jim McGrath, a spokesperson for the Office of George H. W. Bush.
“Dear Timothy,” Bush’s first letter, dated January 24, 2002, reads. “I want to be your new pen pal. I am an old man, 77 years old, but I love kids; and though we have not met I love you already. I live in Texas – I will write you from time to time – Good Luck. G. Walker.”
Though Bush sometimes hinted at his real identity — like sharing a picture of the family dog, Sadie, who has “met a lot of famous people,” and sharing that he was invited to the White House for Christmas — Timothy didn’t learn the truth until after he graduated from the program.
“After a while, my executive assistant, Angie Lathrop, took over the sponsorship, and after Timothy graduated at 17, she flew to the Philippines to meet him,” former president of Compassion International, Wess Stafford, told CNN. “That’s when she told him who his sponsor really was.”
The stunned child said the revelation was “life changing.”
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
