*In a remote farming valley in central Kenya, I fell in love. Her name was Joy and she was in kindergarten. Today, I want to tell you the story of how she was soaring at her little forgotten school but now she is stuck in COVID-19 and facing starvation. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there. You can help!* Hi! My name is Linda Higdon. I've been working in Kenya for nearly 20 years.  Just five years ago, my Kenyan friend, Lucy, and I launched the first school lunch program for Joy and her 250 classmates at Ribui Elementary in rural Kenya. The kids were sitting in class all day without a thing to eat, so they stopped coming. After all, who can learn on an empty belly? The school almost closed.    Education was their only lifeline out of poverty. We had to do something!                                                         That's when I discovered Joy.   She captured my heart from the moment we first held hands in her kindergarten class. Somehow this little girl trusted me. I knew in a split second, “This was my girl.”                              In that precious moment, I knew I could never let her down.     <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/48322658_1592426111847086_r.jpeg" alt="48322658_1592426111847086_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />With lunch at school and full tummies of beans and rice every day, Joy and her classmates were healthy, wide-eyed and loving their classes. Their grades skyrocketed! <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/48322658_1592426819259251_r.jpeg" alt="48322658_1592426819259251_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" /> So, you can imagine the sad situation when COVID-19 struck. The school closed because of the virus. Joy stopped getting her precious school lunch. For most of the kids, this was their only meal all day. <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/48322658_159242747410555_r.jpeg" alt="48322658_159242747410555_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />      Then, things got even worse. This year's harvest failed and the meager food supply in this isolated farming village is now quickly running out.  <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/48322658_159242877484920_r.jpeg" alt="48322658_159242877484920_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />                                 STARVATION is now a BIGGER THREAT than the VIRUS! <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/48322658_1592429635184608_r.jpeg" alt="48322658_1592429635184608_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />                                                     When my friend Lucy, the school’s champion,  explained to me what Joy and her entire valley are going through because of COVID-19, I told her, “We are going to get you that food and make sure that not a single kid or family goes hungry!” <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/48322658_1591318408901609_r.jpeg" alt="48322658_1591318408901609_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />                                     I told her that  I know some amazing people who believe                                                                     No child should ever go hungry! Lucy and I will never give up! These kids and their families mean way too much to us.               So, we’ve created a simple yet powerful plan. (Isn’t that what women do?)     <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/48322658_1592431561957824_r.jpeg" alt="48322658_1592431561957824_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />                                                                         BUT WE NEED YOU!                                              Over the next 90 days, we plan to raise $37,500                                                         to feed all 250 kids and their families                                                                  to get them through this crisis                                                              $50 Feeds a Family for One Month                                                         $150 Feed a Family for Three Months                            You can feed a family for one week, one month, or all three months.                                                                     Give any amount you want!                                                   With you generous support of $1000 or more... we will name a classroom in your honor at Ribui School when it re-opens. You will receive a Kenyan name. Talk about a legacy! Also, we'll send you  Paul Higdon's new book released on Amazon, "Hope and a Future", the riveting story of the life of a street boy. Finally, you'll receive an exclusive collection of Linda Higdon's best photography taken over 20 years working in Kenya.   <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/48322658_1592505134282556_r.jpeg" alt="48322658_1592505134282556_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />And since we are a small (but mighty) team of volunteers, rest assured your money doesn’t get trapped in overhead. Also, because we work through so many personal connections created over 20 years, we can deliver your gift of food  to the community within days.  Imagine! You can touch lives quickly and personally.  Isn’t that refreshing?     <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/48322658_1592506336808648_r.jpeg" alt="48322658_1592506336808648_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />                             No words will ever be good enough to express our thanks!                                               AND WELCOME TO OUR KENYAN FAMILY                                  with some of the kindest, warmest people on the planet.   <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/48322658_1592507738574667_r.jpeg" alt="48322658_1592507738574667_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />Here’s the best part! Come back and see us. We are posting frequent updates and first-hand stories direct from the valley. Then get ready! Joy, the kids and their families, plus our team want to love you up! And shower you in some African gratitude. Come on! Don’t we all need a bit of that right now? <img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/48322658_1592325522678085_r.jpeg" alt="48322658_1592325522678085_r.jpeg" width="100%" media_type="3" />                                                        And Joy, we will not let you down!                               __________________________________________________________________________ YOU CAN STILL HELP, EVEN WITHOUT MONEY!  Whether you contribute financially or not, please help us spread the word. You can use the Go Fund Me share tools on this page.                             __________________________________________________________________________ Big Applause, Please.  <a href="https://globalheartjourneys.net/bios/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MEET OUR  AMAZING TEAM</a> !

Carolyn Ray

Donna Carpenter

Anonymous

Maryjane Goff

Berniece Davis

Neil Thompson 

Jane Lacher

Robert J Richman

NANCY BARTON

Kim Do

ML Sather

Kathy Sue Tranter

Clariese Hunter

Missy Hooton

Berniece  Davis 

FEED JOY

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

FEED JOY

Still $3,667 to go. Help us build momentum.