Friends of Ngong Road

We empower Nairobi children living in poverty to transform their lives through education and support, leading to employment.

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Help Transform Lives – Contribute to Our Annual Appeal!

The students we serve face more challenges than most of us can imagine. They learn early on that to survive they must embrace resilience, facing their challenges with hope, drive, passion, courage, and kindness.

We are grateful to all our sponsors who make classroom education possible for individual students.  Sponsorships cover the costs of school fees and uniforms, but Friends of Ngong Road also provides unique program support to empower students to succeed and transform their lives. These include our Life Skills Program, career counseling, employment support, basic medical care, the Saturday Program, computer certification, case managers, etc.  Our Annual Appeal directly supports these initiatives. 

Thank you to the many friends who have already donated to our annual appeal.  We are making great progress but still need additional supporters to achieve our goal of raising $170,000 by year-end. 

Your support will be DOUBLED thanks to the $85,000 matching gift from the Ted and Kathy Truscott Family Foundation.  

It’s not too late!  Help us transform lives.

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Maydene McDonald’s Estate Gift

Friends of Ngong Road were humbled to receive a generous gift from Maydene McDonald’s estate after her passing at the end of 2019. Maydene learned about the organization through her late sister, Beth, who was a relative of Kurt and Paula Meyer. Paula is Friends of Ngong Road’s Founder and President.

On occasion, Paula and Kurt would host Beth, Beth’s husband, Derwood, and Maydene to their home in Iowa for holidays. Their Iowa home is nicknamed “Tranquility” as it is a very tranquil, welcoming place known for hosting guests. Beth and Maydene were among the regular guests, but little did Paula know that they picked up on the opportunity to transform a child’s life through the stories Paula shared about Friends of Ngong Road.

The gift came as a reminder that we never know when, where, or for whom the mission of Friends of Ngong Road will matter. We must keep telling the story so that people like Beth and Maydene have the opportunity to leave a beautiful legacy as they did. Thank you, Maydene and Beth.

If you are considering a planned gift to Friends of Ngong Road, we’d love to talk to you. There are many planning options and giving areas that can be considered. We would love to hear why you care about Friends of Ngong Road and learn your intentions so that your legacy and wishes are ensured.

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Ambassador Program

The Friends of Ngong Road Ambassador Program is a new, exciting volunteer program. Ambassadors help spread the word about the organization, with the following goals:

-Elevate awareness about the Friends of Ngong Road
-Lead initiatives to grow contributions and sponsorships
-Create opportunities for more students to join the program and transform their lives

Our Ambassadors are people who are passionate about the mission of Friends of Ngong Road and want to scale the impact. Ambassadors spread the word of the organization to their network of family, friends, and colleagues. Many Ambassadors host events to inform their network about the important work being done by this organization, with the support of the FoNR Development Associate and Ambassador funds. These crucial volunteers get the joy of knowing they are making an even greater difference through getting more sponsors for children in Kenya who are waiting for this opportunity, as well as donations to sustain the organization’s meaningful programs.

We are looking for more people to join our Ambassador Team! Our husband and wife Ambassador Team, Dave and Kari Jensen, have said this ”We want to share this opportunity with as many people as possible-so many people are looking for ways to give back and this is an excellent grassroots organization that can positively affect not only the child, but the sponsor as well. We are raising children of the world and it is important to give back.”

Are you passionate about the mission of Friends of Ngong Road? Do you have a desire to spread the word of this organization, just like Kari and Dave? If so, please contact Leah Switzer, Development Associate, leah@ngongroad.org. Your volunteer work will make it possible for more children in Kenya to transform their lives.

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Pentair Foundation joins us in transforming lives!

Friends of Ngong Road is pleased to announce it has received a $15,000 grant from the Pentair Foundation. “The generous grant from the Pentair Foundation will allow us to ensure all children in our program have access to education, safety and well-being services, and a supportive community. It will help children with so many barriers to education gain access to the tools and resources to transform their lives through education,” says Lacey Kraft, Development Director.

Pentair Foundation Logo

Pentair, a diversified global manufacturer, aims to improve the quality of life of people around the world by helping its customers produce more food, energy, and efficiency from each drop of water while protecting people and the environment. The Pentair Foundation supports this mission through philanthropic efforts focused on providing greater access to clean, safe water and food, investing in sustainable agriculture to increase food production, promoting STEM education, and supporting the communities where its employees live and work.

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Partnership with Newcomb Institute

New to camp last summer was a partnership with the Newcomb Institute of Tulane University. Sally Kenney of the Newcomb Institute helped launch the program where students studied Women and Social Development in Kenya prior to traveling. Once they arrived, days were filled with meeting the Friends of Ngong Road staff, children, and families, seeing the animals, learning more about Kenya, and of course, camp! The Tulane students each prepared lessons that they taught to students at camp and participated in the daily activities of camp. Read more about the partnership in the Newcomb newsletter.