Officially Freedom Kits of Yakima

After working together under another non-profit since 2015 we have now officially organized as our very own 501(c)(3) charity called Freedom Kits of Yakima.

Official logo of Freedom Kits of Yakima

At our first workshop as Freedom Kits of Yakima in February, 2022, our local TV station showed up to do a story on our group, and broadcast the story that very day on the 6:00 pm news. We were on TV! This was a great experience and helped us connect with new community partners. You can watch the coverage here.

A couple living in West Richland, WA, saw the story and contacted me that very evening so excited about the Freedom Kits, and asked if we could make some for their charity, "Abundant Life Foundation".  Their charity had put in a well for water access in the Pokot area of Western Kenya the previous year, and they were going back over to complete the well.  They also support a boarding school in the area that supports 11 villages, but they always lost their 8th grade girls to FGM.  April is the traditional month for FGM, and the girls never come back to school after the April break -- they receive FGM and then are married.  The charity had been praying and racking their brains trying to figure out a way to keep the 8th grade girls in school so they could go on to graduate, and when they saw the news story, they felt like it was an answer to their prayers.  We were able to make and give them 140 kits by the beginning of March so that they could take the kits over, give them to the girls, and keep them in school rather than sending them home over the April break.

Check our Facebook HERE, to see videos of the girls receiving their kits.

Pokot, Kenya. Location of first set of kits sent from Freedom Kits of Yakima

We also had an article written about us in the local news paper, The Yakima Herald (Read here). It was so exciting to share our mission with them and we are thrilled and grateful for all of the new community contacts that came from this coverage as well.