End of 2024 Newsletter
First, we would like to thank all our donors and sponsors for all the support we received in 2024. We had a successful year because of you. Here is how we spent the quarter:
October - We had a general membership meeting on October 4th. Mr. Isaac McNary, Vice President of International Development from The Outreach Program came and made a presentation on a project for elementary school children that provides after school program, food, playgrounds and clean water and a mobile clinic servicing the villages within the program area.
On October 22, we got enrolled in Dillons Food Store Community Rewards Program. This means that you can link our organization to your Dillons rewards account by logging in to your account at www.dillons.com then scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking on Dillons Community Rewards under ‘Community’. There you will see where to click to search for an organization to link to your account. Search for Wichita African Union Inc and link it to your account. Thank you very much in advance for supporting us in this way
On October 2-3, & 22-23, one youth in our community and two staff of International Rescue Committee attended two leadership training programs, When Everyone Leads and Your Leadership Edge at Kansas Leadership Center utilizing WAU’s Leadership Transformation Grant. Each program came with a certificate of completion. We are slowly building leadership capacity within the organization and the community.
On October 11 Kansas Leadership Center approved a second year Leadership Transformation Grant for 3 spots for Lead for Change leadership program. Three people from the organization will be attending this training in 2025.
On October 17 WAU President virtually met with a Community Sponsorship officer at IRC to discuss Community Co-Sponsorship Program. The agenda of the meeting was to introduce the program to WAU so that an informed decision could be made by WAU to find what is doable. Â
Other activities: Applying for grants.
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November - We had a general membership meeting on November 1st as well as a Board meeting on November 20th and committee meetings within the month.
Panera Bread accepted our application for a fundraiser. The café fundraised for WAU on November 2nd. It was a rainy day, but some people came out to support WAU. Panera Bread donated $30.
On November 20th we donated food received from The Outreach Program to the International Rescue Committee. Connecting resources to needs in the community.
Other activities: Applying for grants.
December - Was a busy month. We did not have a general membership meeting in December because of holidays and people travelling.
We had a Christmas party on Saturday December 7 from 5:00PM, attended by members and a few guests including a youth, Adolphine Mulemba, who spoke about her journey to and in America and her plans to start African Youth Advisory Council in Wichita.
During the Christmas party WAU members performed money spray dance to raise money for school children in Tanzania. We raised $150 which we donated to The Outreach Program, a 501 (c) (3) public charity, to go towards the budget for their water program for school children in Tanzania.
Received some donations: $1,000 for a community gathering from Kansas Health Foundation and another $1,000 for Scholarships from private donor, Ms. Joy Hustead, below.
On December 9 WAU received an offer for a donation in the form of meeting space for the first quarter of 2025 from the Courtyard by Marriot.
On December 12 WAU executive and one Board member attended dinner reception for the African Union Ambassador to the US, Her Excellency Hilda Suka-Mafudze at the Kansas African American Museum. This was organized by the International Trade Division of the Department of Commerce. The Ambassador was in town for the Kansas Global Holiday Market to promote participation of African businesses. On December 13 two WAU executive officers attended a VIP reception, an opening ceremony for the Kansas Global Holiday Market. H.E. Ambassador was a special guest and the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Commerce, Joshua Jefferson was in attendance and gave opening remarks.
On December 14 WAU members participated in the activities of the Kansas Global Holiday Market which took place at Naftzger park, downtown Wichita. Pepper Soup sisters sold Nigerian food, Rose Atakpa performed Nigerian dance, Dr. Daisy Kabagarama did storytelling and drumming.
On December 14 WAU members attended Jamhuri day celebration hosted by Wichita Kenyan Community to celebrate Kenya’s 61st Independence Day.
Other activities: Applying for grants and running an end of year fundraiser for a community program.
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