The following is a guest post by Duncan Beardsley, PVF Board Chair and Director of Generosity in Action
A Report on Recent Activities of Generosity in Action, a Designated Fund of PVF
1. A Center for Homeless Children
Have you ever been traveling and come upon a school or village with a need that caused you to want to help?
Craig Sherod, a photographer from Mountain View, did just that in Benin, in West Africa, when he came upon a residential property that was being used to house a number of homeless children. The problem was that the children were about to be evicted because the owner wanted to sell the property. Wishing to help, Craig set out to raise $28,000 to buy the property and give it to APEF, a local NGO in Benin, to establish an official home for the children.
Craig needed a financial process that would allow donors to make qualified charitable donations, but APEF is not registered in the U.S. This is where
Generosity in Action came into play. We agreed to promote the project on our website and to collect donations via our
Designated Fund at Philanthropic Ventures Foundation. As he set about to raise the funds, Craig worked closely with Martine de Souza, director of APEF, who worked with the children. We were very excited to help support his efforts.
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