Our Story
Having recently arrived in USA from Kenya, our I couldn't help but notice how the prospect of Christmas excited everyone. The carols, the commercials, the gift swaps and most importatntly the spirit. As I pondered through my son's (Ian) long 2005 Santa List, I thought back nostagically about Christmas in Africa.
Like children all over the world, children in Kenya know about Christmas. But for most of them what distiguishes Christmas from the rest of the days is having to go to church on a day other than Sunday. How wonderful would it be to gives these children one special day in a year that they can celebrate and cherish for years to come?
For a few dollars we could organise a Christmas party for children back in my home village. Having recently set up a free tripod website account for my son Ian as a school exercise, I decided to add a paypal link and requested a few of my friends if they could donate for a Christmas party in Kenya.
$360 dollars later, we hosted a party for over 150 children and Raised Smiles was born! Suprised and encouraged by how much a little donation could go back in Africa, every Christmas my friends requested I repeat the fundraiser. With our friends, and their friends help, donations have grown from the initial $360 in 2005 to over $4,000 in 2010. We continue to facilitated the annual parties but also use the extra money and help to expand our help to include education and shelter.
Our donors have come back time and again as they continue to be inspired by the amount of work their donations achieve in Kenya
Our Team
Raised Smile is entirely run and operated by volunteers. 100% of our donations go directly to the projects. Our pride and reward is being privileged enough to facilitate a channel for kind strangers to brighten and impact a life across the oceans while enriching everyones lives in the process.
Our Current Volunteers are
Wilfred Mwangi- Founding Trustee
Wilfred is a Financial Management Associate at Citigroup and also holds an MBA from The Ohio State University Fisher Shool of Business plus a Bachelors degree in Finance from the University of Massachussets in Boston. When he is not working or volunteering for Raised Smiles he enjoys spending time with his family.
Tom Anderson- Trustee
Tom currently is the Executive Director of St. Francis Retreat in San Juan Bautista, CA and holds a Bachelors degree in Business from the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. His passion is travelling, making friends and helping others.
Annete Karanja- Trustee
Annete holds a Bachelors degree in Communications from Bridgewater State College in Masachussets.
Ian Bahati and Ethan Jabali- Inspiration and future Trustees
Ian and Ethan (ages 9 and 5) are the insiration behind Raised Smiles. Our aim is to insipre in them a passion for helping others and have them run the campaigns in the future.
