By Derek Schlennstedt
A fundraiser to send Kenyan children to school will be held in Healesville next month and residents are invited to come along and help others – and get fed along the way.
Yarra Glen resident, Esther Rijk, will run the Keen for Kenya fundraiser at Healesville’s Sanctuary House Motel on Friday, 4 August, from 6.30pm.
The fundraiser, which is in its fifth year, aims to raise money to send children from the Kibera slum in Kenya to a boarding school for their secondary schooling.
Ms Rijk said the fundraiser was born many years ago after a visit to the slum.
Since then, the Kickstart project has helped many children receive a secondary education – something she said many don’t get the opportunity to have.
“I started doing it as a bit of a hobby as i wanted to get some of the kids I taught through secondary school,” she said.
“Not many kids there have any hope of getting to a decent high school, as its really expensive.
“So when I got back, I tried to fund some by myself and it’s just become bigger and bigger.”
“The idea is to get them out of the slum, it’s a pretty negative environment, especially for the girls and so we help to get them into boarding school which is a much more positive environment … to give them the best chance at a brighter future.”
The fundraiser is run under The Kickstart Project Inc, a formalised and registered charity to raise money for the children’s scholarships.
At the Sanctuary House event, attendees pay $50 per head (before July 30) for a two-course meal, and will be able to take part in a live auction.
Some of the prizes on offer in the auction include accommodation packages in the Yarra Ranges, some wine from Yarra Valley wineries and art from the valley and from Africa.
Ms Rijk said that the fundraiser last year raised around $25,000 for the Kenyan students, and that she would like to achieve that goal in the upcoming event.
“If we could hit that huge figure, that would be incredible,” she said.
“It’s doesn’t just go to school frees, but mentoring, uniforms, text books and support … all 92 per cent of every single dollar directly reaches a child in Kenya,” she said.
The event is on a Sanctuary House restaurant 326 Badger Creek Road, Healesville on 4 August, at 6.30pm.
To book for the evening, visit www.trybooking.com/VYFC or contact thekickstartteam@gmail.com.
