Working with Western Union & WKKF
This fall, HELP celebrated a very exciting landmark. We received the two largest single-year grant disbursements in our history, thanks to the generous partnership of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) and the Western Union Foundation. Both WKKF and Western Union have a longstanding focus on education, and together they are sponsoring nearly 20% of the HELP student body for the 2013-2014 school year. WKKF’s support for HELP is part of their recently launched 15-year commitment to Haiti, while Western Union’s engagement comes via their three-year “Education for Better” global campaign.
A HELP partner since 2011, WKKF’s most recent grant will support 20 HELP students over four years. In addition to completing their degree programs in health care, education, agronomy, and finance, the HELP-WKKF Scholars will also work with community-based organizations in WKKF’s target areas in the Southwest and Central Plateau.
“We know the rewards of education reach far beyond any one individual. HELP’s focus on providing college scholarships and leadership training to disadvantaged youth is not only creating a new generation of leaders in Haiti, but is also building secure families and strong communities for generations to come,” said Alix Cantave, WKKF program officer for Haiti. In October, Sterling K. Speirn, President and CEO of WKKF, visited HELP along with Mr. Cantave, and spoke with students and alumni. “These young adults are the country’s future parents, educators, and leaders,” said Mr. Speirn. “And through the support they receive from HELP to fulfill their dream of education and training, they will strengthen Haiti’s families and communities.”
The Western Union Foundation is supporting HELP’s entire graduating class of 18 students for 2013-2014 as well as the development of our new student database. “Educating young people is critical to the economic and social future of any country,” said Patrick Gaston, President of the Western Union Foundation. “Western Union is dedicated to supporting education as a pathway to economic opportunity. As part of Education for Better, Western Union’s three-year commitment to global education, we are proud to support HELP’s work to provide financial resources to educate Haiti’s deserving students at the country’s major universities so that they can contribute to the future of their country.”
Most Haitian universities require all undergraduate students to submit and defend a thesis in order to receive their bachelor’s degree. This requirement contributes significantly to Haiti’s low university completion rate (less than 50%) so HELP’s support for our finishing students includes a dedicated thesis advisor, resume and job search training, and access to HELP’s network of local employers.
In addition to sponsoring seniors, the grant from Western Union enables HELP to develop a state-of-the-art student database. Over the past several years we have researched and tried countless off-the-shelf student database products, eventually concluding that the growing quantity and complexity of the information HELP is managing required the development of our own system. This new database will be launched in the coming days and will greatly strengthen our ability to track students’ progress at HELP and beyond.
Our sincere thanks go out to Sterling Speirn and Alix Cantave at WKKF and to Patrick Gaston and Joey Ham at Western Union for their support for HELP and our students.