In 2010, we began our work providing clean water and educational tools to high schools in Uganda as a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity. You have helped us with generous donations along the way. This year we have achieved three important milestones that are a clear measure of our success. And we want to share this good news with you.
- Total donations reached over $630,000
- Clean water provided to over 50 high schools
- Over 100,000 lives improved in Uganda
Our mission is simple, the impact is huge, and the lives of so many future Ugandan citizens have been improved. You have read about our projects in our newsletters and seen the faces of the students who have been supported by your donations. We now have demonstrated that our ideas and projects work, and that it is time to grow our organization, so we can help more students study and learn.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” —Margaret Mead
The future of Quench and Connect:
As we move into 2025, let us share with you our plans to grow.
- Expand the Board of Directors
There are now ten talented, skilled Directors on our Board who are actively engaged, as volunteers, in plans for growth of the organization. We have members on our Board from Boston, Greensboro, Indianapolis, Chicago, Monterey, Pebble Beach and San Diego. Have a look at our website to read about these wonderful people who are contributing their time and energy to the plan. - Establish an Associate Board
We have formed an Associate Board with early career stars who are helping with the growth plans and developing content for next-generation donors. At the website you can read about these young volunteer members, and we are still recruiting more to this Board. - Increase donations
Last year, with the addition of new Directors on our Board, and expanded recognition, we were able to nearly double our donations. Here is a graph showing our donation history since inception.
- Increase the number of projects
There are approximately 4200 high schools (secondary schools) in Uganda. Over 3000 of those schools are located in rural areas and lack clean water. We want to grow and provide boreholes for more of these schools each year. We will need more ‘hands-on’ both here and in Uganda to handle more projects. - Hire a new full-time Executive Director
As many of you know, our Founder, Kathryn Ely, established Quench and Connect in her retirement and has worked as a volunteer on a part-time basis to establish the organization and bring it to the success that it has achieved today. But a plan for growth requires the efforts of a full-time salaried Executive Director. As the donor base is expanded to allow us to handle more projects, we will recruit a new Executive Director to lead the increased workload. Kathryn will remain active and engaged as Founder. - Launch a fundraising campaign
Based on our great success in fundraising last year, and looking for further increases this year and beyond, we are launching our first annual fund-raising campaign. We hope you will read below to see how you can help us in our first campaign.
