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Nonprofit holds fundraiser for Kenyan aid

By David Ugarte

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Comfort the Children International, a Lawrence-born nonprofit that works to improve living conditions in the community of Maai Mahiu just outside of Nairobi, Kenya, hosted its first fundraiser in Lawrence June 27. CTC had a silent auction, food, drink, conversation and information about the organization. Milton’s, 920 Massachusetts St, hosted the event.

Zane Wilemon, KU alumnus, founded CTC in 2003. Wilemon said the organization’s only goal in its first year of existence was to build a classroom for a local orphanage, but instead it built two.

Allison Edwards, CTC volunteer, said that in the last year, CTC hosted teams of volunteers from around the world whose commitment built classrooms, created online connections between schools, provided more than 750 patients with medical care and pharmaceuticals, developed nutritional menus for orphanages and built a daycare center for developmentally disabled youth in Maai Mahiu.

She said Kansas had become the backbone of the organization with volunteers dedicating countless hours to planning and fundraising.

“CTC is powered by this relentless energy of youth, and through it we have become an ever-present force in Maai Mahiu, helping where we can as we learn from the community what works, what doesn’t and where they want to go,” Edwards said. “It’s a dynamic organization where any strong-willed Jayhawk would contribute.”

Edwards said Brad Cardonell, 2009 graduate, was in Maai Mahiu for a month this summer setting up an AIDS clinic before starting medical school.

Edwards said the biggest and most long-term project CTC is working on is gathering the funding to build a community center in Maai Mahiu.

— — Edited by Ross Stewart

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