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The Children’s Educational
Foundation was founded in 2001 by Megan Colvard. This non-profit organization
is involved in a number of activities both in Los Angeles and Africa.
The Foundation has helped to establish and maintain an English as a second
language program for illiterate immigrants at the St. Joseph’s Center
in West Los Angeles and provides eyeglasses to needy school children of
over 800 families in poorer areas of Los Angeles. Internationally, the
Foundation provides educational and physical therapy equipment to disabled
and visually impaired children in Namibia, and furnishes school supplies,
clothing, and athletic equipment to AIDS orphans and disabled children
in Zambia.
The Foundation arose initially in an effort to meet some of the educational
needs of poor families in West Los Angeles. As a freshman in high school,
Megan began working at a local community facility, the St. Joseph’s
Center. The St. Joseph’s Center is an organization, which provides
a variety of services for the poor in West Los Angeles. Most of the people
served by St. Joseph’s are recent immigrants who speak very little
English. The majority are illiterate even in their own language. Megan
was drawn first to the children and began to tutor them with their homework.
She saw that the children faced many obstacles to their education, but,
in general, the children had access to public schooling and most seemed
to learn English quickly. The parents, Megan soon realized, faced even
greater and more difficult challenges. Most of the parents worked long
hours at “entry-level’ jobs, trying to feed and house their
families. Because they could not read, write or speak English, there was
virtually no hope for advancement to better jobs no matter how hard they
worked. Megan decided to try to organize an English as a second language
program for these parents in the evenings.
The plan faced three major obstacles. First, the St. Joseph’s Center
was already stretched financially. Although the Center was excited by
Megan’s concept, there were no funds available for a new program.
Second, Megan realized that it would be difficult to get adults to attend
an evening class when they were already exhausted by their day’s
work. Many parents were even working a second job at night to earn additional
money. Third, if parents did attend an evening class, childcare would
have to be provided.
Megan began to raise money for the project but came to understand quickly
that she could be successful only if she were able to make the donor’s
contributions tax deductible. With the help of her family’s attorney
and accountant, she established a nonprofit organization, The Children’s
Educational Foundation. She next went to local business people and corporations
for funding. Within three months she had raised $5000 to start the project.
Initially she intended to use the funds to pay for teachers and supplies.
A local community college was so excited by Megan’s project, however,
that they offered to provide ESL teachers and most of the supplies without
charge. Megan then realized that she could solve the problem of getting
tired financially strapped parents to the classes in the evening. She
decided to use the money that she had raised as a stipend for the adult
students. By attending classes and reaching established milestones of
proficiency, students were able to receive stipends, which were roughly
equivalent to the minimum wage they receive for their regular jobs. St.
Joseph’s provided the facilities for the classes and an extra room
for childcare. Megan and her Marymount friends volunteered to work in
the childcare room and the program was launched. This program has proven
to be enormously successful. It now provides an opportunity for the adult
members of over 800 families to improve their English skills, and, because
of its success, additional funds have been pledged. It is believed that
the program will become a paradigm for use by other community centers
throughout Los Angeles.
Megan had another dream. To assist educational programs for poor and disadvantaged
children in Third World countries. Two years ago, she visited schools
for handicapped children and AIDS orphans in Namibia. She saw these children
respond to almost unimaginable hardship and deprivation, not by becoming
more insular and selfish, but by becoming more generous and caring for
one another. She saw starving children share their food, and young people,
weakened by disability, helping those who were even weaker. Megan was
captivated emotionally and spiritually by the courage and joyful spirit
of these African children. Over the past two years, Megan’s Children’s
Educational Foundation, has raised over $20,000 dollars in donations from
numerous business entities and organizations including Delta Airlines
and South African Airlines, Kramer Sporting Goods, the American Youth
Soccer Organization, Galaxy Alliance Soccer Club, Pacific Palisades High
School, Friends of Vision and the World Family Foundation. She raised
an additional $4500 by organizing a concert, which brought together prominent
local rock bands to the Marymount High School campus near Westwood, California.
With this financial support, she has provided teaching supplies and visual
aids to the School for Visually Impaired Children in Windhoek, Namibia
and physical therapy equipment for the Cheshire School for handicapped
children in Katima, Namibia. In Zambia, she provided new clothing and
recreational equipment for over 1000 children at the Kalingalinga School
for poor children and AIDS orphans, and at the St. Joseph’s School
and St. Muluba’s School for severely handicapped children.
Megan’s dream is to continue
this work and to foster better vocational programs within these schools.
Through the Foundation she hopes ultimately to create variety of small
manufacturing businesses in each community to provide more reliable employment
for the graduates.
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