Children are my pet cause. I have a foster child in El Salvador

The actress and humanitarian Jane Badler once declared: “Children are my pet cause. I have a foster child in El Salvador, and whenever I'm home, I work for the Adam Walsh Foundation, which finds missing children. I also do some hospital visits and other things for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.” Though spoken with humility, these words shine with the light of eternal truth: that to care for children is to care for the future, and to lift the weakest is to strengthen the entire fabric of humanity. In her voice we hear not mere charity, but devotion, a recognition that children are sacred trusts entrusted to our protection.

When she says, “Children are my pet cause,” it is not a casual admission but a solemn vow. For the child, unlike the warrior or the sage, cannot yet defend themselves; they depend upon others for safety, nourishment, and love. To claim them as one’s cause is to take up the mantle of guardian, to fight not for glory but for innocence. The ancients held this same truth—for what is the strength of a city if not measured by how it treats its young?

Her mention of a foster child in El Salvador expands this lesson beyond borders. Love for children cannot be confined by nationality or culture, for the needs of a child are universal: food, safety, education, and love. By supporting a child far from her homeland, Badler embodies the wisdom that humanity is one family, and that to protect one child, anywhere, is to honor the dignity of all children everywhere. The ancients would call this the virtue of hospitality, extended not only to strangers at one’s gate but to strangers across oceans.

The reference to the Adam Walsh Foundation, created in memory of a child stolen and slain, evokes the darker side of the human condition. Children, innocent and defenseless, too often become victims of cruelty. To labor in the search for missing children is to stand against the shadows of the world. It is a heroic act, for it restores hope to grieving families and declares that no child’s life will be forgotten or forsaken. Here we see the ancient truth that justice is not measured only in laws and courts, but in the willingness to bring the lost back to safety.

Her work with the Make-a-Wish Foundation, bringing joy to children suffering from illness, carries yet another truth. While some cannot be saved from death, they can be given light in their final days. To grant a child’s wish is to affirm that their life, however short, has meaning and dignity. In ancient stories, kings and prophets often sought to bring blessings to the dying, for they knew that in easing sorrow, one touches the eternal. Badler’s words remind us that even in sorrow, compassion can plant joy.

The origin of this devotion lies in a timeless reality: children are the vessels of tomorrow. They carry within them the dreams of generations yet unborn. To abandon them is to abandon the future. To honor them is to build a foundation stronger than stone or steel. Jane Badler’s words echo what mothers, fathers, teachers, and sages have proclaimed through centuries: that the care of children is the most sacred of human duties.

The lesson is clear: take up the cause of children. Whether through adoption, mentorship, protection, or simply acts of kindness, do not turn away from the young who cry for help. If you have resources, share them. If you have time, give it. If you have love, bestow it freely. For every child touched by compassion becomes a light against the darkness of the world.

Thus the teaching endures: “Children are my pet cause.” Let it be remembered that to care for children is to guard the flame of humanity itself. Future generations, mark this well—strength and wisdom matter little if innocence is left unprotected. For in the eyes of every child shines the mirror of eternity, and those who choose to serve them become immortal in the memory of mankind.