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Hello Jennifer,
It’s been 8 years since Changing Lenses Changing Lives began sponsoring vulnerable Kenyan children by paying their school fees. You may have started this journey with us in 2015 or you may have only recently signed on to help.
8 YEARS LATER. In those 8 years, we have gone from sponsoring 6 children in 2 primary schools to our current 131 children in dozens of schools--primary, secondary, and college/university/trade schools. Our first sponsored child—Cindy Kendi—was 6 years old with health problems when we began to sponsor her. Now she is a beautiful, healthy 14-year-old young lady, in 7th grade!
In 2015, we set our sponsorship fee at $35 per month. At that time, $35 allowed us to pay each child’s school fees for the first 8 years of school with some left over for uniforms, food, bedding, or other needs for their families. Once our sponsored children grew and were ready for the next 4 years of school, school fees were higher and the $35 per month allowed us to pay only their school fees.
OUR KIDS GROW UP! Several years ago, CLCL’s Board made the decision to continue to sponsor all our kids (now young adults!) who decided to complete their education with a 4-year university/college degree or trade school certificate. Although colleges and trade schools are much less expensive in Kenya, the cost typically ranges from $600 to $1,000 each year. CLCL currently pays the extra costs for 16 of those students unless their sponsors chose to increase their contributions.
SCHOOL FEES GO UP! You know well that the cost of everything goes up. Even in Kenya, the estimated 2022 inflation rate is 9.7%! To ensure that all our sponsored children are supported, the CLCL Board voted recently to increase its monthly sponsorship fee to $39 per month or $468 per year. We estimate that this new amount will be enough to pay each child’s school fees at primary and secondary schools for at least several more years—perhaps even longer than our initial 8 years. We are going to continue to leave the decision to supplement college/university/trade school costs to our individual sponsors.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION. We earnestly hope that you are willing to increase your next contribution by $4 each month or $48 each year. If you are paying annually, your next reminder will be for $468. If you pay monthly via PayPal, we kindly request that you change your payment amount to $39. And if you pay monthly via a bank draft, please contact your bank to increase your monthly donation to the new amount of $39.
CLCL’s Board members and other U.S. volunteers are all unpaid. Together we will continue to help you Change Children’s Lives in Kenya.
With many, many thank yous!
Jennifer Wynne
President
Changing Lenses, Changing Lives
P.S. You may review CLCL’s current IRS Form 990 at our website, changinglenseschanginglives.org. Or, contact me at Jennifer@changinglenseschanginglives.org
Jennifer Wynne
President of CLCL
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