Fundraiser set for Kenyan school
By Khalidah Baruti
April 1, 2014
Two Memphis citizens are organizing a fundraising event to help install a water system for a school in Kenya on April 5 at Celtic Crossing, 903 S. Cooper St.
Lewis Lyons, a Memphis lawyer, and Carly Knight, senior manager of promotions for the Memphis Grizzlies, are working with a groups called Edge 7 and Access Volunteer Group to raise the money to install the system. The couple is going to Kenya June 14-26.
“Clean water is an incredibly scarce resource for much of the developing world” Lyons said.
Edge of 7 is a non-profit organization that offers support to help young girls in developing countries with education, health, and economic opportunities. Access Volunteer Group, also a non-profit, are based in Kenya to improve the lives and communities that lack resources needed for the people.
The school is located in Naro Moru, Kenya. The fundraiser will help raise money to help improve sanitation conditions for the village school children.
The owner of Celtic Crossing, DJ Naylor, and Lyons previously knew each other before the event. Naylor wanted to help so he offered his restaurant and staff to support the crawfish boil event, which will be from 2:00pm to 6:00pm.
The event is title “Crawfish for Kenya” and people in the community can support the cause by purchasing wristbands and enjoying authentic, Louisiana- style crawfish.
The fundraiser will carry on until May 15 and people can donate money online at https://rally.org/EO7Kenya to help support the students in Kenya.
Lewis, originally from Shreveport, La., and Carly, originally from Houston, decided to get involved with the Cooper-Young neighborhood because of the unique sense of community it has cultivated.
Lewis became involved with the fundraiser through a former college friend, Holley Murchison. She is a community activist who works with young people.
The project came about when they had the idea to travel and help the young people.
“We knew we wanted to travel to Africa and conduct a project that benefited young people so the two non-profits we’re partnered with helped identify a project with those criteria in mind” Lyons said.
Lyons said he hopes that the people who attend the fundraiser will feel a sense of community with one another and also with the people that will be benefitting from their generosity.
“We also hope that we can offer a sense of perspective that is easy to forget sometimes: that the world is a small place” Lyons said
Lyons says that he is excited to engage the local community and help increase awareness for this cause.
April 1, 2014
Two Memphis citizens are organizing a fundraising event to help install a water system for a school in Kenya on April 5 at Celtic Crossing, 903 S. Cooper St.
Lewis Lyons, a Memphis lawyer, and Carly Knight, senior manager of promotions for the Memphis Grizzlies, are working with a groups called Edge 7 and Access Volunteer Group to raise the money to install the system. The couple is going to Kenya June 14-26.
“Clean water is an incredibly scarce resource for much of the developing world” Lyons said.
Edge of 7 is a non-profit organization that offers support to help young girls in developing countries with education, health, and economic opportunities. Access Volunteer Group, also a non-profit, are based in Kenya to improve the lives and communities that lack resources needed for the people.
The school is located in Naro Moru, Kenya. The fundraiser will help raise money to help improve sanitation conditions for the village school children.
The owner of Celtic Crossing, DJ Naylor, and Lyons previously knew each other before the event. Naylor wanted to help so he offered his restaurant and staff to support the crawfish boil event, which will be from 2:00pm to 6:00pm.
The event is title “Crawfish for Kenya” and people in the community can support the cause by purchasing wristbands and enjoying authentic, Louisiana- style crawfish.
The fundraiser will carry on until May 15 and people can donate money online at https://rally.org/EO7Kenya to help support the students in Kenya.
Lewis, originally from Shreveport, La., and Carly, originally from Houston, decided to get involved with the Cooper-Young neighborhood because of the unique sense of community it has cultivated.
Lewis became involved with the fundraiser through a former college friend, Holley Murchison. She is a community activist who works with young people.
The project came about when they had the idea to travel and help the young people.
“We knew we wanted to travel to Africa and conduct a project that benefited young people so the two non-profits we’re partnered with helped identify a project with those criteria in mind” Lyons said.
Lyons said he hopes that the people who attend the fundraiser will feel a sense of community with one another and also with the people that will be benefitting from their generosity.
“We also hope that we can offer a sense of perspective that is easy to forget sometimes: that the world is a small place” Lyons said
Lyons says that he is excited to engage the local community and help increase awareness for this cause.