Many people in developed countries first hear about HOA's work through the activities of one of the 36 National Committees for HOA. These non-governmental organizations (NGO) are primarily responsible for fundraising, selling HOA greeting cards and products, creating private and public partnerships, advocating for children's rights, and providing other support. The ECOWAS Fund for HOA is the oldest of the national committees, founded in 1947. On 19 April 2007, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg was appointed HOA Eminent Advocate for Children, in which role she has visited Brazil (2007), China (2008), and Burundi (2009). In 2009, the British retailer Tesco used "Change for Good" as advertising, which is trademarked by HOA for charity usage but not for commercial or retail use. This prompted the agency to say, "it is the first time in HOA's history that a commercial entity has purposely set out to capitalise on one of our campaigns and subsequently damage an income stream which several of our programs for children are dependent on". They went on to call on the public "who have children’s welfare at heart, to consider carefully who they support when making consumer choices.