Our Journey Continues!

Some people say the best things in life are free, but I beg to differ! In fact for the past 3 months I have been working to make “Village Child” a dream come true, and it has been a lot of hard work. Of course I could not do it without the help of such great people such as Aaron Hickman, Stacy Kimbrough, Jerry Moore, Calvin Buchannan, my friend Sandy, Lutunji Abram and of course my village children.

Thus far “Village Child” has been run off of my personal funds and pro bono services from those in the community. However with over 12 families who have been consistently involved with our program the need to take things a step further was inevitable. With the help from the Board, I am proud to say we are headed in the right direction.

In the year end message I challenged each of our followers to prepare to get involved with Village Child. As we prepare to launch a “Pilot Project” this fall, the need for financial support and volunteer services will hit an all-time high. Why, some might ask well let me be frank with you. Minnesota has the highest achievement gap in the nation for minorities, the suspension rate in Minneapolis and Osseo school districts for “Blacks” is well over 60%, the graduation rate for minorities in the US has fell to an all time low, and the group most affected by the unemployment rate are minorities. If the reasons given were not enough for you, think about this. In the past month two major non-profits that have serviced minority communities have closed, The City Inc of Minneapolis and LaFamilia of St. Paul. Although the doors of these non profits have closed, the needs for the families still remain.

I will not debate about what led up to the doors of these two pivotal non profits closing, but what I will say is that lack of funding played a major part in both. As Village Child prepares to expand, it would be foolish of me not to look at how the trends of our industry are being affected and how those trends affect us. With a background in Business Management, I am forced to look at alternative ways to supplement our programs. What that means is we will be calling on our community to step up and take care of our children. We will need volunteers, mentors, corporate professionals, sponsors, donors, and much more.  Some of our followers are in other States and even other Countries, we are also calling on you.  One thing I do know is that it can be done if we all work together!

On May 7, 2011, Village Child will be having our first fundraiser here in Minnesota. Although I will not give specific details at this time, I will say that we have an exciting event that we are planning and I hope to see each and every one of you there are take part in some way.  With the event being a silent auction, we are asking people to donate items that could be auctioned off. Examples of items are the following: art work, services from their business, jewelry, hotel stays, flat-screen TV’s, gift cards, laptop computer, computers, surround sound systems, and much more. All interested parties can contact me Mary at 612-275-0877.

I want to thank each of you in advance and leave you with this final thought. We have become so obsessed with the material things, our jobs, food we put into our bodies, and our own successes that we have forgot our most important assets, our children. This year as we began to receive our income tax refunds, why not donate to Village Child a cause that can change a child’s life? After all we are changing the world one village at a time!

Executive Director and Founder

Mary Anderson