Ellie Ambrose was named the 2011 Youth Volunteer of the Year by the Nashvile Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She was honored at a luncheon in November along with Lee Ann and Orrin Ingram, Dollar General Corporation, and E. Warner Bass.
Watch Ellie's award luncheon video here!
WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU ELLIE!!
Hey all!
What a day!!!
In all, we raised $49,000 yesterday for kids in Africa. AMAZING!! Thank you for your generosity.
For you runners, here's a link to the official race results, thanks to the Nashville Striders.
Thanks for coming out!!!
We are so grateful for our sponsors this year. Take a look at what they have to say about why Ellie's Run matters to them!
Your local Krispy Kreme Doughnut shops in Nashville ,Tennessee, are proud and honored to sponsor Ellie's Run. Krispy Kreme nationally strives to support their local communities, so to be a part of a race that not only supports the Nashville community, but many international communities as well is a true fulfillment of our mission statement. Krispy Kreme employees strive to 'touch and enhance lives through the joy that is Krispy Kreme.' Thank you for allowing us to fulfill our mission through participating in Ellie's Run
Throughout the year, we sponsor many events that benefit our community. This month we want to feature Ellie’s Run for Africa, a 5K Race and 1 Mile Kid’s Run that begins at Percy Warner Park, at the corner of Hwy 100 and Old Hickory Blvd.
As part of our commitment to the community, we find great value in sponsoring events such as Ellie’s Run. By helping them underwrite the cost of the event, they can put every penny toward serving children in Africa. The $25 registration price pays for one child’s education for an entire year!
If you don’t have plans for this Saturday, May 21st, think about attending this community event. It’s more than just a 5K run. There will be food, African drumming and dancing, activities and bouncy games all morning – an event that your whole family will love!! Don’t forget to be on the lookout for a few of our cars!
Enock's story is simply amazing. Read and be encouraged!
Enoch is a Form III (grade 11) student at the New Dawn Educational Center located in the slums of Huruma near Ronda, a very wealthy suburb of Nairobi. Ronda is the location of the United Nations, the U.S. Embassy and several other diplomatic missions. The slums of Huruma sit on their doorstep un-noticed.
Enoch was born in the Western Provence of Kenya in the village of Bikisa in 1988. When he was 6 months old his parents divorced and his mother left home with him, two brothers and a sister. Shortly after, his mother married again. When Enock reached school age his mother took him back to his father, but before Enock started school his father died. Enock was placed with a family member and became a child laborer at age 6, looking after the livestock.
Enok’s story is similar to many orphaned Kenyan boys. One day an aunt showed up at the place he was staying. Enock pleaded with her to take him away with her and wouldn’t let her go until she did. He said, “I remember it was Friday; on the way to her house she stopped by a hotel where they washed me and cleaned me up, then they put clean clothes on me. I was just wearing rags— I had no clothes. She took me and bought me clothes—on Monday she took me to school. I started out in Standard II (second grade) and I finished primary school in 2002.”
There was a lot of conflict between the members of Enock's family and he was forced to leave his Aunt's and go back to the village. He said, “All my relatives had died or left. I was alone and forced to work for a neighbor caring for his animals, doing some domestic work and I took his children to school.”
“When I was 18 the village chief helped me get my Kenyan ID (working card) and I left that hard place for Nairobi where I didn’t know anybody. I found a job as a gardener at the home of a UN official in Ronda. He would release me on Sundays to attend church. I made friends at church that spoke about the New Dawn High School. I found the school and asked to be admitted. I told the principal my story and that I didn’t have any money, but he still invited me to begin school. I took what I had saved from working as a gardener and bought a school uniform, shoes and some school supplies. I was excited to be going to school.”
Enock had to quit his job as a gardener to go to school and instead took a job as a night watchman where he stayed awake most of the night and went to school during the day.
Enock had nowhere to live! The school placed him with a guardian in a children’s home so he had to quit the watchmen’s job. Through the generosity of donors the school has provided Enock with a full scholarship for the remainder of his schooling. The children’s home was a 4 hour walk from school, overcrowded and provided little to eat because there were so many orphaned boys. He moved to a small tin shack in the village near the school. Not having to walk gave him much more time for study. The snag came when he had to pay a 1000 Kenya Shillings ($12US) per month for a 10’ by 10’ tin shack. From time to time Enock drops out of school for a week at a time in order to earn enough for his rent and food. This has put great pressure on him to keep up with his studies. He often works from 6 to 9 on school nights just to make ends meet. He has no electricity so he can’t study after dark. He said, “At one time I was in the top 5 of my class but with having to drop out and work I’ve slipped from that position.”
Enock is a natural born leader. Enock is currently the “Head Boy” of New Dawn High School student body. For a young man who was once afraid to stand in front of anyone and speak because he lacked self confidence in English, he has been developed by the school for future greatness. Enock’s dream is to become a doctor. He said, “The desire to become a doctor is growing stronger and stronger in me every day.
In response to the question, what would you say to the donors who support you to attend school, Enock responded, “Out of the deepest part of my heart I am very much grateful to African Leadership and Mocha Club for the impact that they have had on my life. You are raising us up from the slums to be leaders in our community and in Kenya to make a difference. You have set the captive free; you have helped me to be part of society and to be able to hold my head high. My prayer is that God will bless each of you who have blessed me.
Today, I wanted you to meet Stephen. I love Stephen's story because he truly defines what it means to chase dreams.
Stephen grew up in the Western Provence of Kenya in the village of Orlando. He was born in 1970 and started school at the age of 9. Stephen said, “My teacher loved me and my parents loved me. I grew up in a Christian home and learned to read by reading the Bible.” In 7 years Stephen has finished 8 years of schools and graduated from primary school.
Stephen was unable to continue his studies because by this time he was living with a single mom and there was no money for him to continue into secondary school. Stephen remarked that he had a difficult time understanding why he couldn’t continue since he loved school so much. His mother didn’t have the ability to continue supporting him in the home so she sent him off to Tanzania to live with an uncle. His uncle cared for wild animals on a game farm and put Stephen in charge of the wild animals. Stephen found that he enjoyed woodcarving so he learned the carpentry trade but he said, “My desire and longing to return to school didn’t die easily.”
Several years passed and Stephen found his way back to Kenya and home to his mother and his estranged father and pleaded with them to let him go back to school — but they wouldn’t support him. He said, “At the moving death of my older brother, I felt God saying to me, ‘my yoke is easy and my burden is light’.” That was 1994 when Stephen gave his heart to Christ. Like many Kenyan youth trying to find their way, Stephen found his way to Nairobi where he took many different jobs as a common laborer. He knew that a lot of wealthy families lived in the area called Ronda so he went looking for a job as a gardener or as a night watchman.
At about the same time he took a job as a night watchman he heard of a school called New Dawn Educational Center, a high school that was located in the slums of Huruma very close to where he worked as a guard. This rekindled Stephen’s desire to go back to school so he found the school and asked to be admitted as a student. By this time Stephen was 37 years old and when he asked the principal for the application for admission to the school they thought he wanted to register a child for school. Stephen explained that he was the one who wanted to attend school and after much deliberation the finally admitted him to Form I or the equivalent of grade 9.
Stephen spoke of how difficult it was to work all night and then go to school from 8 to 4:30 every day. He also found it very difficult to relate to the younger students and to adjust to being back in school after having been out of school for 21 years. He has kept his guard job for nearly 4 years and this year Stephen will graduate from high school at New Dawn. When asked what he was going to do now, Stephen indicated that he feels the call of God to do community work and wants to study theology and help the poor in the community of Huruma, especially orphans. “If God can provide manna in the wilderness, he can provide for me now. He provided an education when I had nothing, so he can provide for me when I graduate. With the little money he makes from being a night guard, he rents a small house in the slums of Huruma.
Stephen said, “New Dawn has been very important in my life, it was like a savior to me. It caused me to weigh my level of commitment and sacrifice to show how serious I can be to do something to persevere.” Stephen sums up his experience at New Dawn with these words: sacrifice, determination, commitment, perseverance and endurance. He expresses deep gratitude to people he doesn’t know and who don’t know him for the sacrifice they have made to provide for the sponsorship of New Dawn and its students. He remarks, “You have made something possible that wasn’t possible. You are great people with a great heart.”
He said, “The day I receive my graduation certificate will truly be a “new dawn” in my life —a dream come true.”
As we get closer and closer to race day, we wanted to let you meet some of the people that you help DIRECTLY, when you run or become a hero. Today, I want you to meet the beautiful Lucy.
Enjoy!
By Philip M. Renicks, Ed.D, Educational Consultant, Mocha Club
Lucy was born in 1990 and is currently in Form II (Grade 10). She is the first born of 6 and lived in the village with her parents who worked garden plots for a living. Her parents valued education and started her in kindergarten at 6. She finished primary school in 2005 which is the end of grade 8. By the time she finished primary school she was 15 years old and hoped for a chance to go on the high school. However, that was not in here immediate future like most Kenyan youth, especially girls. In fact most Kenyan girls never have the opportunity to attend high school. Primary education in Kenya is free, but high school is only for those who can afford the fees. Lucy’s parents were not able to earn enough to send here to high school. She stayed at home and worked in the gardens but became restless and decided to find work on her own to try and save enough money to go to school. She took a job as a house girl for 2006 – 2007 She faced so many challenges. Like most house girls, she was mistreated and abused. There was a lot of conflict in the home. When Kenya experienced the post election riots in 2007 following the last presidential elections the people she was working for had to move and she lost her job. She returned home with very little money in her pocket and felt defeated and broken.
After four months at home, she found another job as a house girl. While the first job as a house girl was full of conflict, the second was even worse and just a few months into the job the lady of the house fired her. “She told me to pack my things and she took me back home.” Following yet another disappointment she called her mother’s sister and asked if she could live with her and work for her as a domestic laborer. Her aunt was a working woman so she expected Lucy to take care of the kids, cook, clean and carry water. She found that she wasn’t treated all that well in her aunt’s home either. “I did this for about 6 months and then the pastor at the church where I go told me about New Dawn School. I decided to see if they would take me even though I didn’t have much money. To my surprise they took me. When I went I had lost all hope and my confidence was very low. But the teachers challenged me to become the person that God wanted me to be. Now I have focus and purpose. I have worked hard and I am in the top 10 in my class.”
Lucy is the Deputy Head Girl for the school. As a student leader at New Dawn there is a lot of responsibility and interaction at intense levels with fellow students. She is well respected and part of the journalism club.
“New Dawn has helped a lot of young men and women who had no hope in life, like me. They are giving me a good education. Without it my life has no focus or purpose and I would be lost. I am so grateful to all the donors who have made this school possible and for all the overseas visitors who come to encourage us. The school has changed my life.”
So, I promised you guys some big news... ARE YOU READY!?
Irene Tongoi, founder of Kenya-based New Dawn Educational Center, will travel 8,000 miles to co-host the 7th annual Ellie’s Run for Africa with Ellie!!
Sharing the stage at the event is the next development in a relationship between Irene Tongoi, mother of three, and Ellie, who met during Ellie’s third trip to Africa in 2009. Their friendship grew even stronger in 2010, when Ellie made her fourth trip to Africa to work exclusively at New Dawn.
“Ellie and I both had dreams to help children in Africa who really have no chance in life without education,” says Irene. “It’s amazing to see what we’ve each done from such different perspectives – one a Kenyan adult, the other an American child.”
Adds Ellie: “The last time I visited New Dawn, a student literally looked me in the eye and said he’d be dead like many of his friends without all of the opportunities that school provided including a meal every day, a safe place to go and an education. I am grateful that Irene started this school, and that we get to be part of its success!"
New Dawn Educational Center, which serves 160 students in the Huruma slum of
Nairobi, Kenya, has been a primary beneficiary of proceeds from Ellie’s Run for Africa in years past. The school is made of shipping containers, stacked on top of and next to one another. To learn more about New Dawn, click here.
“Finally having the chance to see the race first hand is an amazing opportunity for me,” says Irene. “I look forward to being with the hundreds of people expected to attend, and I even look forward to possibly running!”
We are super excited to have Irene with us! Make sure to come by and meet her!
Like I said, we all have questions. Allison - a fabulous ERFA team member - has compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions. Are you ready??
Drumroll please...
With less than two weeks until the 2011 race, we’re holding the first annual “Ellie’s Run Sprint”. What does that mean? It’s like Heroes on steroids. Basically, we’ve asked some pretty known people around town to be our “sprinters” and raise money through their blogs and social media connections. And - they’re trying to out-raise each other by the morning of the race, May 21st, 2011 at 7am. So, check out their pages, Twitter links and blogs. Choose where your allegiances lie. And share the links to help your team win!
Remember -- every $25 you donate helps a child in Africa go to school!
Allen Fuller (@allenfuller)
Founder of Flat Creek, where we build websites. Dad. Conservative. Tennessean. Less strategy, more execution.
Courtenay Rogers (@courtenayrogers)
Mommy, Christian, foodie, social media enthusiast, lover of kind people and all things Franklin, TN!
Dave Delaney (@davedelaney)
Community Enthusiast, Social Media Strategist, Marketing & Promotions. Founder of Geek Breakfast & Nashcocktail. Co-founder of BarCamp & PodCamp Nashville.
Kenny Silva (@kennysilva)
I'm more than just a REALTOR. I am a radically devoted Christ follower who is passionate about empowering leaders to change the world.
Janet Timmons (@outtheother)
Nashville music blogger, DJ, avid reader and repository of useless knowledge.
Hey guys!
We have some BIG news about who will be joining us this year for the race. I, personally, am thrilled that she will be joining us and can't wait for you to meet her, too.
Check back in this week to read our big announcement.
Also, we'll be joining some fellow Nashvillians at Centennial Park for Musician's Corner on May 14. We'll be posting details shortly, but it should be a great time. Some awesome artists are lined up to play, so a good time should be had by all of us!
Honestly, I could never thank each of you enough for the difference that you are making. You continuously inspire our team to move forward and you are literally saving kids that live thousands of miles away. THANK YOU!
PS. We're less than three weeks from race day! Make sure to join us!
