At the start of January, our CEO and co-founder Kennedy Odede received an email from a class of 8th graders from The Banner School in Frederick, MD. The class had watched the Senior Class Address he gave at his graduation from Wesleyan University in May, 2012, and were inspired to do something to help. They wrote in their email, “My teacher has shown your speech to all the classes she teaches. She says you are an example of how one person can make a difference.” They said they wanted to make a difference by holding a fundraiser for Shining Hope.
The class leapt to action, organizing a fundraiser through their class business, One World Coffeehouse. The Coffeehouse is student-operated and donates to a different organization every month, running under the incredible motto: “Changing the World, One Cup at a Time.” At the end of January, they held an extremely successful event “staffed” by the students. They were able to share with family and friends about Shining Hope for Communities and the Kibera School for Girls, and donated all the funds they raised to support our movement. We can’t thank them enough!
We’re very moved, impressed, and inspired by these young people and future leaders. They’re an amazing example of how a group of people can come together to make a positive difference in this world of ours!
Have an idea for your own creative way to support the Kibera School for Girls -- or any of our projects at Shining Hope -- by holding an event at your school, church, synogogue, workplace or neighborhood? Just get in touch with Nathan at nathan@shininghopeforcommunities.org and we'll do all we can to help make it a huge success!