American
Friends of Kenya - American Friends of Kenya (AFK) began as an
informal effort to support a Kenyan couple living in Connecticut who wanted
to create a community library in their native land. Many of their friends
and co-workers joined together, collected books and computers and helped
make the library a reality.
During the Summer of 2004, 18 of the
people involved in the collection drive visited Kenya for the dedication of
the Hekima Community Library. They returned home energized and inspired to
do more, and the result was the incorporation of American Friends of Kenya
during October 2004 and its approval as a non-profit 501c3 public charity
during March 2005. UUCN Members Wayne and Emely Silver are the founders of
the organization.
Today, they send 2 to 3 major shipments
a year of books, school supplies and medical supplies to schools, libraries,
hospitals, clinics and orphanages, have over 10 partnerships with
organizations in Kenya, USA and worldwide to work towards our common goals,
and now have two chapters, Connecticut and Chicago, and hundreds of
volunteers from all over the world, including Kenya.
AFK is a 100% volunteer organization
where none of its officers, directors or supporters are paid a dime nor do
we use professional fundraising services. AFK is truly a grassroots effort
and a labor of love and compassion.
"The Rose City House of Worship
Challenge"
UUCN is currently
working with AFK on a School Supply drive from now until our Christmas Eve
service. You can bring all sorts of school supplies including notebooks,
pencils, pens, backpacks, etc to the United Congregational Church during
Christmas Eve service, and we will have collection boxes placed at the front
of the sanctuary. Other items needed are Flintstone chewable vitamins.
We're challenging all Norwich-area
churches to help with this drive, and the church who brings in the most
supplies (by weight and dollar value) will be awarded a plaque. We're
calling this the "Rose City House of Worship Challenge" and hope you will
participate. Gift cards of various denominations are also welcome, as are
monetary gifts - it costs quite a bit to ship donated goods to Kenya, so
every dollar helps.
Here's a
preliminary list to give you ideas of what kinds of supplies to bring for
the drive:
Glue sticks
Scissors (blunt ended for younger kids)
Ballpoint pens
No. 2 pencils
Colored pencils
A pencil sharpener (hand-held with a top to collect
shavings)
A large pink eraser (The old-fashioned ones do the
best erasing.)
Water-based markers
A four-ounce bottle of white glue
Highlighters (These are probably unnecessary for
kids in kindergarten through second grade.)
Spiral-bound or composition notebooks
A three-ring binder
Loose-leaf notebook paper (Wide-ruled and College
ruled)
Pocket folders
A ruler with English and metric measurements
Scotch tape
A stapler
A sturdy, supportive backpack or messenger-style bag
