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

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. Gmeiner believed that every child deserves a mother or father, as well as brothers and sisters, a home, and a supportive community environment.Īs 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). 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. 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”).

That’s where the “SOS” comes from, an acronym of the club’s name. 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?īefore 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.

What sos stand for