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Harvest of Hope Event to Benefit Children in Colorado and Kenya
Student at a participating school in Kenya.
Photo: Bill Wildey/CWS
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NEW YORK, NY - Thousands of children--from Denver, Colorado, to Nairobi, Kenya-- will be the direct beneficiaries of the 2005 Harvest of Hope fundraiser scheduled for Wednesday, October 5, at the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Now in its fourth year of raising funds to improve the lives of children in the United States and abroad, Harvest of Hope is sponsored by Church World Service and its Rocky Mountain regional office.
The event promises to be a festive evening of celebration and hope as attendees are transported in spirit to Africa, a continent rich in culture and tradition, through the experience of the cuisine, music, dance, and crafts of Kenya. A Kenyan marketplace, colorful head wrapping, and a silent auction also will be featured at the event.
The gala will feature performances by world-renowned composer Tim Janis, a partner with Church World Service on its Africa School Safe Zones and HIV-AIDS programs, and Moses Ole Sakuda, an elder of Kenya's Maasai tribe and an associate director of CWS. Sakuda also is a key member of the CWS management team coordinating the work of the Africa Initiative, including School Safe Zones.
The local beneficiary, the Mothers Raising Boys 2 Men program of the nonprofit agency It Takes a Village, provides a broad range of services to communities of color in the Denver metropolitan area. The Mothers Raising Boys 2 Men program offers health and recreational workshops for single mothers of African-American boys, as well as workshops led by successful African-American men who have been raised by single mothers.
The Kenya beneficiary, School Safe Zones, a key component of the Church World Service Africa Initiative, provides a model for what all the schools of Kenya might one day become. Initial efforts focus on ten model schools in or near Nairobi, Kenya, with each school determining its greatest basic needs, from teacher training, to school supplies, to a basic water system. Ultimately, with the help of funds raised in Kenya and in the United States, CWS hopes to demonstrate that improving primary education results in a more promising future for the children of Africa.
The Africa Initiative builds on Church World Service's 50-plus years of experience with the peoples of Africa to focus on some of the continent's most vulnerable populations. The initiative combines the energy and commitment of the 36 Protestant, Anglican, and Orthodox communions that comprise CWS with the knowledge and dedication of African church, government, business, and civic leaders. Together they are identifying and responding to pressing needs in countries throughout the continent with this initiative.
In its first three years, the Harvest of Hope has raised more than $190,000 to help fund the programs offered by Denver-area community organizations, and the Africa Initiative.
Date:
Wednesday, October 5, 2005
Time:
Silent Auction & African Bazaar at 5:30 PM
Harvest of Hope Dinner at 6:30 PM
Place:
Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
1050 13th Street
Denver, Colorado
For more information, to volunteer, or to purchase tickets call 303-455-5765 or visit our web page at www.harvestofhopecolorado.org
To learn more about the Church World Service Africa Initiative and School Safe Zones, please visit www.churchworldservice.org.
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;
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