We hope you are feeling fabulous today! The season of giving continues tomorrow with Giving Tuesday. Without a doubt, 2020 brought on new challenges for everyone. Yet, you continue to celebrate the successes of your August 1 graduates and welcomed your fourth cohort of students on September 22.
Through your generous support, young men and women show up to each class to practice their skills. Also, this real experience allows them to start earning income in a matter of weeks or months depending on the course. With you as their Classroom Hero, you guide them to the finish line, graduation.
For this reason, we hope you will join Uniting Distant Stars for Giving Tuesday. In continuation of the Give to the Max Day, we like to reach our goal of $5,000. Only $2,730 remains to reach it. Please donate at least $10 to help Liberian Youth learn valuable trade skills. Thank you for including Uniting Distant Stars in your charitable giving!
My worldview changed when I visited Liberia for the first time in 1998. This small West African Country was praying for peace after ensuring a devastating civil war for nine years. Much of the infrastructure was damaged and destroyed but the spirits of the people remained hopeful.
While we visited different areas in Monrovia (Liberia’s Capital), the people greeted us with warm welcomes and gracious hospitality. The children, on the other hand, showed signs of malnutrition but they displayed their resilience by laughing and playing. This challenged my beliefs of impoverished children that I learned from watching countless commercials of Sally Struthers crying as the spokesperson of the Christian Children’s Fund.
Children’s Desire to Learn
During this trip, I noticed the desire and hunger of children wanting to go to school when visiting a tuition-free school. It was run by six university students with limited resources. In other words, there were no textbooks, school supplies or desks. Instead, all you saw was bamboo slats on cement blocks and makeshift chalkboard in a one-room building.
We returned the next day with food for a cookout and brought relief supplies that we carried from Minnesota. In return, the children gave a program of songs and skits. Then a nine-year-old boy stood up and recited the Emancipation Proclamation. He blew our minds and brought us to tears because none of us could accomplish what he did.
The boy who recited the Emancipation Proclamation in 1998
Passion to Service Children & Youth
During the next 21 years, I have dedicated my life, money, resources, and time to helping children and youth in Liberia by:
donating funds and materials to support Liberian children’s education and wellbeing since 1998.
volunteering my time while living in Liberia for two separate years (between 2007 and 2010) to support youth-focused local NGOs (non-government organizations).
sponsoring children and young adults with annual scholarships for primary/secondary schools or receive vocational training in 2011.
starting annual school supply drives in 2011 to support a primary school in Congo Town.
Starting a New Chapter
My giving story took on a new chapter when I and Kelvin Fomba (Liberian National) co-founded Uniting Distant Stars as an official non-profit in 2013. UDS focuses on educational programs for children and youth. I continue to donate needed funds, sponsor 13 children with academic scholarships. And, I volunteer countless hours with communication, fundraising, and other support to further our mission in supporting young Liberians.
Heather presenting at UDS “Creative & Innovative Thinking Youth Leadership Workshop ” in Liberia in 2013.
I hope you join me this Giving Tuesday on December 3 by making a donation to our Classroom Hero Giving Day. Your gift not only helps a child or young adult learn but also builds their confidence.
Heather (standing in the back) with children in 2013 from the first school UDS supported with school supply drives and scholarships.
How are you today? Tuesday, December 3, is Giving Tuesday! Please don’t’ forget to support Classroom Hero Giving Day, our 24-hour fundraiser will empower and equip Liberian Youth with the necessary learning materials for their vocational training courses. Our $2,000 goal can’t happen without your generosity and support of Liberia’s Rising Stars!
Three are three options to donate to our Classroom Hero Giving Day:
Every generous dollar you donate buys learning equipment, materials, and supplies for all vocational training courses. Your students fully utilize your gift in applying and practicing their skills to master their given trade(s).
Thank you for including Uniting Distant Stars in your annual charitable giving!
One of our sustaining supporters, Donna from Minnesota, wrote her Giving Story for #GivingTuesday. By entering her story into this contest, she selected Uniting Distant Stars as the receiving charity.
Please help us increase our chance of winning a prize by voting (click here) for her story. Also, you can vote daily.
We greatly appreciate your support on Giving Tuesday! As a result, you raised $420 on Facebook. Despite our best efforts, we did not benefit from the matching funds from PayPal. In fact, the number of donations within seconds of event start time exhausted the funds.
To sum it up, every dollar of your donation goes towards the development of your students enrolled in one of our eight vocational training courses. Thank you for making a difference and changing the lives of Liberian Youth for the better!
