A Vehicle for Hope

Greetings — we hope that you and your family are doing well during this unique time we’re living in. We understand that these are challenging times for all of us, but we would like to humbly ask for your attention for a few moments.

Incorporated in 2003, Hope Children's Fund, Ltd. is a New York State licensed 501 C 3 that provides for the physical and emotional needs of some of the most vulnerable AIDS-affected children who were living on the streets of Meru, Kenya.

Our goal is to furnish the food, clothing, shelter, and medical care that will enable these children to be enrolled in local schools. At the Jerusha Mwiraria Hope Children's Home, we expect to provide these children with the tools that will help them to become productive adults.

As Board of Directors, our mission is to provide a safe and stable environment for the children under our care. As the sole providers for these children, their safety and stability are one of our top priorities.

Over the years we have lacked a vehicle to transport the children to and from their regular activities of attending school, shopping for food and supplies for the home, and visiting medical providers.

This lack of vehicles creates a constant struggle for us to transport the children to where they need to be. Transportation safety is critical in Meru, Kenya, where the common means of travel are walking, matatus (minibus), and lorries (trucks).

These means of travel can be extremely dangerous. Tragically, over our existence, two of our children; Glory and Michell, have been killed on the road on their walk to school from our home.

Since the pandemic, public transportation is no longer the safest option for our immune-compromised children, who regularly travel to the doctor. We feel that a new vehicle for transporting our children has the potential to save lives.

We are incredibly fortunate to have received a $10,000 grant from World Orphan Fund to help us purchase a vehicle. We are also extremely excited to announce a partnership on the vehicle from an anonymous donor who has offered to match the first $5,000 in donations to the vehicle. This matching donation will be available until June 30, 2021. 

Meru Toyota will provide us with a new Hiace minivan (16 seats) if we can raise enough funds. The vehicle comes equipped with removable seating, which will help us to transport food items and bulk purchases to the home.

The purchase of this minivan provides us with the possible income-generating opportunities for private taxi and transport of goods, thus moving us closer towards our goal of self-sustainability.

The total cost of the vehicle is approximately $42,000. The price of our goal includes the cost of insuring the vehicle for one year. If we cannot raise enough funds for a new vehicle, we will purchase the best used one available based on our fundraising.

We realize that these are difficult times to be living in and that money is a precious resource for all of us, now more than ever. With this said, we humbly ask you to please consider donating to the vehicle fund if it is within your means to do so. 

Any donation, small or large, will inch us closer to our goal of safe transport for the children. As a result, any and all support helps to fuel their growth as productive, happy, and loving members of society.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Your attention and support mean the world to us.

In gratitude, The Hope Children’s Fund Board of Directors