The Meaning Of SOS

You have probably seen the acronym “S.O.S.” before, but do you know what “SOS” stands for in the name SOS Children’s Villages, the world’s largest organization caring for children who have lost both their parents or been abandoned?

Before it was called SOS Children’s Villages, Hermann Gmeiner’s Societas Socialis was a social club organized to raise funds for the care of children without parents in Austria. That’s where the “SOS” comes from, an acronym of the club’s name.

To Gmeiner – pictured below – and his supporters, SOS meant socially responsible society (Societas Socialis is a Latin phrase and translates literally to “social service society”). Officially founded in 1949, Hermann Gmeiner refined the name to SOS Children’s Villages to emphasize the call for attention to children in need worldwide. Gmeiner believed that every child deserves a mother or father, as well as brothers and sisters, a home, and a supportive community environment.

As the only SOS Village in Canada, those four essential needs have become the principles that lead us here at SOS Children’s Village British Columbia (BC). Along with all our sister SOS Villages around the globe, we continue to answer the SOS call of children by providing safe, loving homes and happy childhoods.

LEARN HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

SOS IN THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

Some people mistakenly think the “SOS” in our name means “Save Our Souls”, “Send Our Succor”, or “Save Our Ship”. The original use of “SOS,” however, dates back to 1908 and the International Morse Code distress signal used with maritime radio systems. In Morse Code, “SOS” is a signal sequence of three dits, three dats, and another three dits spelling “S-O-S”. The expression “Save Our Ship” was probably coined by sailors to signal for help from a vessel in distress.

SOS Children’s Village BC raises funds to support the many children in British Columbia’s foster care system, while SOS Children’s Villages raises funds to support children in developing countries (we do not receive any funding from the international organization). Today an estimated 140 million children worldwide have lost one or both parents, and that number is expected to increase. Most of these children do not have access to education, clean water, food, medical care, and many do not have homes.

Here in Canada, we are just one of 137 countries in which SOS Children’s Villages continues to respond to the call of children. With over 560 SOS Villages, SOS Children’s Villages is currently raising more than 65,000 needy children. Calls of SOS in the communities surrounding the SOS Villages have also been heard and over a million children and adults are being responded to daily in over 2,800 SOS Family-Based Care facilities worldwide.

The SOS call is an easy thing to ignore.
The noise created by the stress and complication of our own lives can easily overpower and weaken it.
To some it is a faint whisper and, to others, it is silenced.
However, if you stop for just a moment, you might hear it.
How will you respond?

I WILL HEED THE CALL

VIEW OUR BROCHURES