BULLETIN TEMPLATE (Nov 22, 2016)

Today, our guest speaker Larry Hohler, Co-founder and President of Hope Children's Fund, Ltd. (HCF), provided an update on the fund-sponsored orphanage in Meru, Kenya. He reminded us about the founding of HCF as a 501c3 fundraising agency- and the Home which opened its doors in 2005 to welcome the first 18 AIDS-affected "street children". The Jerusha Mwiraria Hope Children's Home now provides for the physical and emotional needs of 90 youngsters, furnishing them with food, shelter, clothing, and medical care that enables them to be enrolled in local schools, where they are being provided with the tools that will help them become productive adults. Since the opening of the orphanage, not only have the numbers of children being helped grown significantly, but also the needs of the youth and the costs involved in continuing to successfully sustain the mission goals have expanded as well. Since Kenyan education beyond the 8th grade is not free, fees/tuitions must be paid each trimester for those attending secondary schools and beyond. Currently, 38 of the Home's children are in primary schools, 39 attend secondary day or boarding or technical training institutions (like our BOCES), while 13 are students at Kenyan universities or in other post secondary programs. The Home has already produced a pharmacist, a physician's assistant, a hairdresser, a baker, and a secondary school teacher, as well as sales people who purvey such things as cosmetics and cell phone systems. Larry pointed out that some of the children raised at the orphanage have been less successful than those mentioned- some have been expelled from the residence for breaking House rules, while a few have been incarcerated for breaking society's rules. However, the majority seem to be doing quite well, are highly motivated to succeed, and have the possibility of bright futures. Larry passed out copies of the HCF newsletter and brochures that explain ongoing efforts at creating self-sustainability for the orphanage. These including the purchase and farming of land that produces food for the Home's children and for sale to the public, and the creation of a Technical Training Centre that will eventually provide marketable skills (sewing, weaving, carpentry, welding, hairdressing, computer use) for the community's children. The brochures also point out ways that WE can help sustain The Home, ie., by becoming mentors to individual youngsters for $1 a day, by giving donations of any amount (see www.hopechildrensfund.org), and by using iGive.com (or Amazonsmile.com) when shopping online, naming HCF as the cause you support. Larry thanked our club for its generous support and invited continued participation in HCF fundraising activities such as the annual Bi-Continental 5K Run/Walk.