Proceeds from a May garage sale in Spencerport will aid children thousands of miles away in Kenya and other African locations thanks to the efforts of Kiwanis Club of Spencerport member Heide Reinschmidt and her husband, Joe, and the many community residents who donated items. Heide says she takes the Kiwanis credo to “Serve the Children of the World” very seriously. That’s why she and Joe are the primary organizers of this sale which is now in its third year. Other Kiwanians help out and residents collect items throughout the year to help make the event a success. Repeat shoppers enjoy a bulletin board of photos of African children, many of whom have benefitted from proceeds of past sales and from contributions from the Kiwanis Club of Spencerport. This year, Pat Chadwick brought products made by the Zulu people she ministers to and works with. Chadwick was visiting home for the first time since she went to South Africa four years ago to work at St. Dominic’s Church in Hillcrest near Durban. Chadwick’s outreach efforts have included organizing African women to get several craft and sewing groups together to work on projects and to teach others their skills. Her work and that of others is done under a mandate from the diocese that local churches must have Poverty, Unemployment and Aids (PUA) programs in place. Under that mandate, St. Dominic’s has responsibility for three Zulu native churches in the Valley of a Thousand Hills and Chadwick is in charge of their PUA program with assistance from many parishioners in those efforts. Besides helping the PUA efforts, the garage sale proceeds and donations from the local Kiwanis group also help ongoing projects in Kenya where club members Harry and Carol Ewell visit regularly. June 17, 2007 |
