It was a year ago this week that Lawrence told you about his first trip to Malawi. He went there with the hope of providing desks for Malawi classrooms, where most students have never seen a desk.
MSNBC teamed up with UNICEF to create the K.I.N.D. fund, Kids In Need of Desks, a special partnership specifically to deliver desks to African schools. And it is the permanent and beloved cause of this program.
Now, one year later, the full scale of your generosity has become very clear. As of today, the program has raised $2,413,999, to be exact. That has allowed us to deliver 39,949 desks, with more than 5,000 more in the manufacturing pipeline that will be delivered soon.
Thank you. We are so grateful for all your contributions, large and small.
Life is hard in Malawi but you don't see that on the face of the people. When our cameras returned to Malawi, kids literally sang their gratitude for how you changed their lives.
Before these desks get delivered to a classroom where they change the lives of the students, they have already changed the lives of the families of the people who make them. Those workers have jobs that didn't exist a year ago — thanks to you. Their families, their children are eating better than they were a year ago — thanks to you.
By purchasing one desk, you can provide a new and vastly improved learning environment for two or three students, and ultimately assist the community at large. For the price of a couple of movie tickets, you can lift an African student off the floor for the first time in her life. If you have any room left in your charitable giving budget this year, if there is someone on your gift list who has everything, consider giving that person the gift of one of these desks.
Visit LastWordDesks.msnbc.com to donate. You can have an email gift notice sent to anyone on your gift list for whom you would like to give the gift of a desk.
Leave a Comment:
Thanks for this...the fund, the desks, the story, the vids. You've given us a great way to donate and know it's getting to the right place. Heading to the donate button next. ;-)
I was so moved by the segment of those beautiful happy children singing. What a wonderful opportunity during this Christmas season to donate to such a worthy cause. I was also impressed that the desks were manufactured locally and how it benefits the Malawi economy. Thank you Lawrence for sharing this amazing story with your viewers!!!
Several months ago my wife & I donated to desks to Malawi, after hearing an appeal from @Lawrence. This Christmas we're donating them as gifts for adult family members.
I'm so pleased with the program; the jobs it creates, the community spirit it promotes and hope it brings to children hungry for a dream. It's a template for how direct action works to solve problems, invest in the future and bring people together.
Lawrence,,,, What you and MSNBC are doing are the kind of things good people do.. You will be rewarded as all good people are. Do kids here in America need desks? If so maybe you could look into this... Thanks ... I listen to you every night and think your program is great !!!!
This is wonderful! Thanks for giving us the opportunity to take part in this great initiative. I purchased a desk for my son's teacher for Christmas - couldn't think of a more appropriate gift. Similar question as Jay above - are there needs in US schools that can be addressed through a similar initiative? I'm sure there are with all those on the right all to willing to strip school funding .... Could you look into this as well?
Love your show!! Need more voices like yours to drown out the craziness on the right!!
We were so moved by your story and video about K.I.N.D. that we decided to donate 10 desks to honor our 10 grandchildren! Thank you for offering such a meaningful way to affirm a positive future for other kids of their generation. We love your program and appreciate you so much. You are a national treasure!
Couldn't help but donate last year and now again this year. Add 1 more desk from me! This has become my end-of-the-year feel good donation. Keep up the great work and thanks for the opportunity! Love this!
Just donated for 2 desks - one to honor our Preschool Staff here at church (as I did last year) and one in honor of my youngest daughter. She taught kindergarten in the Mississippi Delta for 2 years with Teach for America, and was deeply moved by the poverty and illiteracy there - so I know she will be thrilled when she hears of this opportunity to reach out even farther. I was so pleased to hear on your show that this project will continue for many years to come. Have a most blessed Christmas!
I finally figured out how to donate. I'm embarrassed that I was so confused. I called in my first donation.
Thanks Lawrence for allowing me to help out with this. Thank you also for caring enough to start this organization. Bless you.
Last year, I showed my son the video about the KIND program and we gave a family gift to the program. This year, he is 19 and working part-time at a grocery store while going to college. I suggested that he get into the habit of giving some of his earnings to a cause he believed in. Without missing a beat, he said he wanted to give to KIND. When I asked how much he wanted to give, expecting a modest one-time donation, he told me he wanted to give $10 a week--this from a kid who makes just above minimum wage. Since I offered to match his donation dollar-for-dollar, we will be giving more than $1000 to the program each year. My son feels pretty good about the idea that we could be furnishing a whole classroom in the not too distant future. I'm very proud of the commitment he has made.