Hi, I'm Dennis Crull, and I'm reaching out to you today to support Love Our Tanzania Family, our 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to uplifting Tumaini For Africa Orphanage in Arusha, Tanzania. Our work is vital, and with your help, we can make a significant difference in the lives of the 38 abandoned children who call the orphanage home.
Love Our Tanzania Family's mission is to foster hope and opportunity for these kids -- to give them a true second chance in life. We do that in two ways:
- Providing orphanage infrastructure that enhances both their standard of living and quality of life.
- Providing high quality education with an emphasis on small class sizes, excellent teachers, mastery of English, and guidance in the pursuit of a rewarding and self-sustaining future.
What we need help with right now -- the purpose of this fundraiser -- is completion of a major recreation facility upgrade, the new basketball/netball court. During reconstruction of the library/activity center building, we mentioned improving the basketball court, which consisted of an old rim and backboard on a post stuck into the ground. A generous family that had visited the orphanage helped to fund a new adjustable goal with glass backboard and concrete playing surface. Acclaimed radio talk show host Jay Weber of News/Talk 1130 WISN donated the multicolor all-weather court surface overlay. One end is basketball. In the foreground is netball, a game the girls enjoy. Here are some of the older Tumaini kids helping to put it together.
To complete this project, we wish to install a roof over the court and install lighting. This finishing touch will:
- Protect the court from damage by the intense sun at the equator.
- Allow the court to be used during the rainy season and after the sun goes down.
In addition to adding an exciting new element to the orphanage recreation facilities, the new basketball/netball court is already opening opportunities outside the orphanage. Because of the Tanzania Basketball Federation's interest in this project and their attendance at the grand opening, the orphanage kids have been invited to attend -- free of charge -- Saturday morning youth basketball clinics in the city of Arusha run by a local coach. Both boys and girls from Tumaini have been participating. The skills they are learning will give them a better chance to be on competitive teams when they reach Edmund Rice Secondary School.
Here is Love Our Tanzania Family Co-Founder Peggy Crull at the grand opening with some of the Tumaini boys and the team sent by the Tanzania Basketball Federation.
Life can be hard in Tanzania. Parents are sometimes unable to keep their families together for a variety of reasons, which is truly tragic. It is heartwarming to see children whose world has been shattered come together to form a new loving family -- our Tanzania Family. Can you help by making a tax-deductible gift today? We thank you and the kids thank you for your interest, love and support. Should we be blessed with gifts in excessive of our goal, those funds will be added to our 2026 Education Fund.
From our Tanzania Family to yours, Asante sana! (Thank you very much in Swahili.) And Merry Christmas!
Organizer
Love Our Tanzania Family Inc
Beneficiary