The Sunday School at Hillcrest United Church in Montague wants to "light up" the lives of families at their twinned school in Kenya. They;re taking part in this year’s Farmers Helping Farmers Holiday Campaign. They hope to raise enough money for 38 solar lights –one for each child in standard 8, the Canadian equivalent of Grade 8.
Through Farmers Helping Farmers, the Sunday School has been sending letters back and forth to Kenya for 4 years.
“The relationships built with these letters has been special for both students and congregation,” says Melissa Mullen, the Twinning Project Coordinator. “They've given us a vested interest in the success of the students at Mweru Primary.”
As part of their 35th anniversary celebrations, Farmers Helping Farmers has been raising funds to purchase 100 solar lights for families in Kenya. The campaign is called "Lights for Kenya 2015". Solar-powered lights have many benefits. The solar lamps allow the students to do homework at night. It gets dark in Kenya by 6:30 year round. Solar lights are safer than the candles or kerosene lamps that Kenyan families use now. The solar lights also have the capacity to charge cell phones – which are used by many rural Kenyans to do their banking.
Purchasing a solar light is just one of ten options available through the Farmers Helping Farmers Holiday Campaign. There are options of all sizes –starting at $10 for a mosquito net to go over a bed that protects a child to prevent malaria. New this year is a $20 option for a pitchfork – to help farmers to make better compost. Milk for ten school children for a month is $30, a set of school books is $100, a water tank is $300 and a dairy cow for a family is $500. Donors can even establish a vegetable garden for an entire school for $1,000. Every donation is welcome and will make a difference.
Farmers Helping Farmers offers gift cards, and donors are encouraged to contribute in the name of family, friends or clients. And there are also tax receipts for all donations. The group asks that you make your contribution by December 15th if you would like a gift card. To find out more, please visit: www. farmershelpingfarmers.ca
Farmers Helping Farmers says “asante sana” or “thank you very much” to Prince Edward Islanders for their generous support over the last 35 years.
For more information, please contact Teresa Mellish:
farmershelpingfarmerspei@gmail.com
Tel: (902) 838-4032
