George H.W. Bush secretly sponsored a Filipino child for 10 years

The 41st President sponsored a 7-year-old boy in the Philippines for ten years using a pseudonym, the nonprofit who connected them revealed.

Through Compassion International, a nonprofit organization that uses local churches to help children in poor communities around the world, Bush sponsored a boy named Timothy. For a decade, the former President sent funds that went toward Timothy’s education, extracurricular activities and some of his meals. The organization has shared some of Bush’s letters with CNN.

The Bush family was not available to comment on the letters, but Jim McGrath, a spokesperson for the Office of George H. W. Bush, confirmed the letters’ authenticity.

Once the sponsorship began, Bush began writing to the boy right away. He said in his first letter, send on January 24, 2002, that he loved Timothy from the get-go.