Today is #GivingTuesdayNow: A Global Day of Unity and Giving! The idea is to raise up generosity at the grassroots level and spur citizen engagement in great causes around the world. This is a special Giving Tuesday to highlight the needs related to COVID-19.
As we have communicated, Keyara's Gift continues to stand by our students, families, and staff in Liberia as they experience their own form of shutdown. One of the things that has hit me so hard during this time as I observe life here in Los Altos, CA and speak with our staff in Liberia is that:
Social distancing is a luxury.
Here in Los Altos, I can order most things for delivery to my house. In Liberia, getting anything requires a visit to a crowded market. In Los Altos, I can work from home over the internet. There is no equivalent in Liberia as most people are involved in manual labor. Here, I can get a couple of weeks of food and not need to brave the grocery store often. For most in Liberia, there is no electricity, refrigeration or even enough money to buy more than a meal at a time. This means going to the market every day. When I go to the grocery store, I drive in the safety of my own car. When our students or family members do, they either have to walk crowded streets or share a taxi with four to six others.
A typical roadside market in Liberia. The yellow taxis carry 4-6 passengers who share similar destinations.
So far, thanks to generous donors, Keyara's Gift has been able to provide more than $10,000 in COVID-19 Relief. These funds are used to provide food staples (rice, oil), disinfecting supplies (bleach, soap, plastic buckets), and fabric masks. The need for this kind of relief is not going away. Currently, Liberia has a small number of cases (166) but the testing has been very minimal, so there are surely many more infected than have been confirmed. Schools and non-essential businesses are closed and there is a curfew from 3PM to 6AM each day.
If you would like to join in the effort to help support the 97 students we sponsor, plus their families and our Liberian staff of 7, we have a way to double your impact! The first $5,000 of donations given on Giving Tuesday Now (May 5th) will be matched by a generous private donor.
If you're able to help, even a little, please make a donation to unlock the matching funds. A successful campaign this Giving Tuesday will make a tremendous difference in the lives of our Liberian friends.
Thank you!
Kreig Ecklund
Treasurer and Board Chair
Keyara's Gift