Every fall, Friends Academy—an independent Quaker school for pre nursery through the 12th grade in Locust Valley, New York—has a wonderful fair that brings the entire community together. Through the dedicated spirit of the Friends/ ASAP student committee, led by Maria Wade, coupled with the support of Friends Academy volunteers (Stephanie Batista, Grace Dixon, Brooke Hen, and Nancy Karches), and teacher sponsors (Herb Lape and Kat Christie), our committee was able to focus their efforts on raising funds for needy children in South Africa through African Solutions to African Problems (ASAP).
As our contribution to the fall fair this past October, the Friends/ASAP Committee set up an ASAP tee shirt booth. We arrived very early in the morning to set up our make shift booth—a little bit of rain did not dampen our determination, or success! We sold approximately 1,000 dollars worth of tee shirts, not to mention tons of committee-member Nancy Karche’s famous cupcakes! With the money we raised, we were able to help support a nursery school in the rural Eastern Cape of South Africa.
This particular nursery school had no books or educational supplies. The money we raised at the fair provided an entire trunk of bilingual books, toys, and supplies for the nursery school children. We were so thrilled to give this educational gift to all of them.
To date, the online sales of the ASAP tee shirts have raised close to 1,500 dollars, so combined with the fall fair fundraiser, the Friends/ASAP Committee is doing an incredible job! A special thank you to our student committee as well as the Friends Academy community—none of this would be possible without your support! We’re really excited to continue our work with ASAP, and are planning a spring bake sale as soon as the weather warms up.
Thanks for your support,
Maria Wade