On Thursday, Apr 23, 2015, the out-going president of St. Clair College of Applied Arts & Technology in Windsor, ON, was being honoured with the well-deserved, “The Herb Gray Harmony Award”. During the ceremony, John A. Strasser, Ph.D., President of St. Clair College was both grateful but also emphasized that this Award (which is recognition for the efforts to build a stronger community that is respectful fo the talent, diversity and rights of all citizens) was due to the many wonderful contributions of the entire College staff.
During the Awards presentation, Mr. Strasser made a point to discuss my husband, Art Barron, and his efforts to help young people in Tanzania and Uganda. Imagine Art’s surprise when he saw his own picture up on the screen and heard this great man speaking with admiration about Art’s ministry. Here’s the excerpt from the book that was distributed that evening:
“Happenings from 2008: Art Barron recently returned from a 2 week trip to Tanzania and Uganda, Africa. The purpose of the trip was to set up new child sponsorship programs for both countries through a local organization called R.E.A.CH. International. As volunteer President of R.E.A.CH., Art made the trip to expand the charity’s programs into Africa. Since 1998, R.E.A.CH. has raised almost a half million dollars to help children in St. Lucia. R.E.A.CH. International is a registered, child-sponsorship charity based out of Leamington and Chatham, Ontario.”
In October 2014, Art made another trip to Uganda, which is documented in the pictures entitled REACH.
This small but mighty charity, operated completely by volunteers is very unique. REACH is a Registered Canadian Charity. It is completely run by volunteers, all from Leamington and Chatham, Ontario! This means operating expenses are very low and for those funds, they hold fundraising events. This way they guarantee 100% of child sponsorship dollars goes to the child and their program in Uganda, Africa! Since their expenses are low, they always have left over funds from fundraisers, and with that they've been able to do some excellent projects:
(Beyond what R.E.A.CH. was able to accomplish in St. Lucia, West Indies) since beginning in Uganda, R.E.A.CH. has been able to:
- sponsor 70 children - including university sponsorships. Children receive books, uniforms, shoes, school fees, health care, food, blankets, mattresses and other supplies as needed.
- build 4 pit latrines along the coast of Lake Victoria
- provide 5 protected clean water sources
- build a fully stocked Medical Clinic
- provide sustainable income generation projects & training to guardians of the children, such as sanitary pad & other sewing & handicraft projects, animal rearing projects (pig, goat, chicken and cow), and agricultural farming projects.
To learn more about the impact of this small but mighty charity, or to become a child sponsor, visit www.reachint.org.
