UPDATE HERE: My Ballsy Risk!

I’m the opening speaker at Yanik Silver’s Underground 007 event in March. One of twenty speakers will win $10,000 for the charity of their choice by popular vote.

I want to win!

Last summer Taylor (14), Tim and I went to Nairobi and before we left, we held bake sales (a lot of work!) and Taylor canvassed friends and relatives to raise money for a children’s charity in Kenya.

Friends from all parts of my life – old high school friends, family, professional acquaintances – contributed to our cause.

When we got to Africa, we found so many of the “charities” were rife with corruption. More often than not, your donations are funneled off to the pockets of nefarious elders, away from the kids who need it desperately.

We spent weeks tracking down a charity that was non-secular and not only legitimate but impressively taking care of the most dire situations – orphans from the rampant slums of Nairobi.

Cheryl’s Children’s Home is run by Samuel Sambuli, a lovely man with a business plan. (This is Samuel below, with Taylor.) He’s trying to raise enough money to get beyond the $120,000 annual budget he has to find every single year to operate CCH to buy land outside Nairobi and build a high school. (business plan)

See the whole photo set of Cheryl’s Children’s Home pictures I took here.

You see, in Kenya only elementary school is funded (and not well) by the government. If you want to get a high school education, you pay.

Very high profile friends of ours have sponsored James for high school this year, which costs $750 for tuition, travel, books, uniform and food. James wants to be an airline steward. He’s charming, bright and that job will get him out into the world. James was raised by Cheryl’s Children Home staff. He has no parents. And how he helps raise the little ones.

Here’s what I will do with the $10,000. First, I’ll hire a lawyer to set up a 501C3, which is US tax-exempt status, so that when we get donations, they will be tax deductible for you. Then I’ll set up a donation site so that we can easily contribute without a lot of overhead of bank fees, which can get expensive. All the rest of the money will go to the kids for this year’s budget and to land acquisition for the high school.

Cheryl’s Children’s Home currently houses about 75 orphans in dormitories on site. They have a van that goes into the slums and picks up children for schooling 5 days a week to bring the total of children they educate and feed to about 200.

They have only elementary school now and if they can get the land and build their own high school, they can put the teens into homes in the area near the land, so the kids are fed, clothed and educated.

Samuel and his able team have a big vision. They are professional, have a business plan, manage their budgets carefully and deserve the reward for this incredible work by having our support.

These children eat beans and greens and rice every single day, meal after meal. There’s no milk. No meat. Few textbooks. Ravaged clothing. Yet they are happy and learning and loved. You cannot IMAGINE the squalor these kids have endured.

I am going to do my very, very best to give a great presentation at UG007 in the hopes that I can make a large difference to this deserving organization.

If you can support me, either financially, with your vote at the event or in spirit by commenting below, I’d truly appreciate it.

Everything counts. Every bit helps.

In Love.

Suz

Note: I used to be annoyed that everyone had “their own charity.” I thought to myself, why can’t you just supporting an existing entity, rather than creating some new charity to stoke your ego.

My policy has been to donate to all my friends’ charities. When someone asks, I give. Breast cancer, sure. Leukemia, yes. Alzheimer’s, definitely. Annual POI Event. Why not. You need money. Anytime, anyone – I give.

This is the first time in my life I see that there’s a deserving organization that simply needs some help and I am called to do it. Even better, it was the impetus of my daughter, Taylor, who got us involved. There’s no better reason for supporting a charity than your child’s desire to right the world. Will you comment below with your encouragement, please? Thank you.