Since the day we started, everything we publish here has been free. No paywall. No locked articles. No upgrade prompts. That was a deliberate choice — because the truth about what’s happening to America’s children should never sit behind a credit card.
We’re going to keep it that way. Forever.
But keeping the lights on isn’t free. So today, for the first time, we’re asking.
Who We Are
Project Milk Carton is a veteran-founded 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 33-1323547) with one mission: transparency in child welfare — and getting missing kids back home.
We’re not a think tank. We’re not consultants. We build the tools and we do the work:
A research engine tracking 340 million+ public records and $148 billion+ in government grants — following the money through the child-welfare system that nobody else is willing to map.
Missing children awareness — modern “milk cartons” for the digital age, putting kids’ faces back in front of people who can help.
Free, open reporting and tools at projectmilkcarton.org — research we hand to families, advocates, and investigators at no cost.
Original investigations and journalism — the work you read right here, every week.
All of it free. All of it public. That’s the whole point.
The Math That Could Change Everything
There are 21,000 of you reading this.
If each of you gave just a dollar or two a month, you would fund this entire mission — twice over. Even if only half of you did, you’d cover our whole operating budget for the year.
That’s it. That’s the secret. A handful of change from a lot of good people keeps this whole thing alive.
Two Ways to Give — Please Read This Part
We’re going to be completely straight with you, because transparency is literally our mission. Where you give changes how much actually reaches the work.
💚 Best for monthly support → right here on Substack
Substack takes the smallest cut of anyone, so the most of your gift goes straight to the kids and the mission. This is the way that helps us most:
→ Tap “Subscribe” at the top of this page and choose a paid plan.
A few dollars a month — or whatever you can give — on a recurring basis is what lets us actually plan ahead and keep the servers, the research, and the milk-carton campaigns running 24/7. Prefer to give just once? You can do that here too.
💳 Best for larger / one-time gifts → PayPal
Want to make a bigger one-time donation? PayPal is quick and easy:
(Honest note: processing fees take a bigger bite on PayPal, so for small recurring gifts, supporting us on Substack puts more of your money to work. For larger gifts, PayPal’s the simplest route.)
Either way — every cent is tax-deductible, because we’re a registered 501(c)(3).
Where Your Money Goes
We run lean, and we run transparent. Your support covers:
Servers & infrastructure — hosting the research database and keeping the tools online around the clock
Research & development — building the technology that makes child-welfare money traceable in the first place
The website & free public reporting at projectmilkcarton.org
Missing children campaigns — getting faces and names in front of the public
Our all-in operating budget is roughly $120,000 a year — and we account for it openly. No executive salaries chasing headlines. No bloat. Veterans and volunteers, doing the work.
Can’t Give Right Now? You Can Still Help.
Subscribe — it’s free. Never miss a report, and grow the audience that keeps this loud.
Share this post. Forward it. Every new reader is another set of eyes on the mission.
Tell one person why this matters.
The Bottom Line
We’ve given this away from day one because we believe families deserve the truth for free — and we always will. We’re simply asking the people who’ve been reading all along to help us keep going.
A few dollars a month on Substack. A larger gift through PayPal. Whatever you can. All of it tax-deductible. All of it straight into the work.
💚 Support monthly on Substack · 💳 Give a larger gift via PayPal
Thank you for being here. Thank you for caring about these kids. It matters more than you know.
— Andrew Fayal President & Co-Founder, Project Milk Carton A 501(c)(3) nonprofit · EIN 33-1323547 · Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Stone broke sorry, job hunting, unemployed. Will catchup when I can as u certainly deserve $$$. Have u published your book? Lulu is a self publisher.