Community Corner

Student Bake Sale Raises $30K for Kenyan Schoolhouse

Thanks to the effort of 180 Whitefish Bay students, the Boxes of Love project will fund nearly 600 desks for an impoverished school near Nairobi, Kenya.

The baking efforts of 183 Whitefish Bay kids are about to pay off in a big way for students at Valley View Academy in Nairobi, Kenya.

A local baking project, known as Boxes of Love, has been passed down over the past seven years as a Whitefish Bay tradition. Kids spend hours baking treats at 11 different homes in Whitefish Bay with the goal of raising money for a charitable cause.

This year, the participants raised a total of $30,126 to purchase 570 desks for students at Valley View Academy near Nairobi, Kenya. The students raised $15,063 through bake sales and donations, and the remaining $15,063 came from matching donors.

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The fundraising totals for Boxes of Love have grown exponentially every year, including this year's 50 percent increase over last year's proceeds.

Last year, the group raised a total of $20,000 for COA ($10,280 in bake sales and an equal matching grant). The year before, they raised $7,375 with a $5,000 matching grant to pay for a water project and a schoolhouse in Kenya.

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The idea of providing desks for a school in Kenya came about because Shorewood's Stephanie Koczela led a $400,000 reconstruction of the school. The cramped, dilapidated schoolhouse with a leaky roof has been replaced with a four-story building with 24 classrooms, a computer room, a library, a play area, and an extra large kitchen. 

With money from Boxes of Love, the school will now have desks for their new schoolhouse. The school plans to purchase 600 desks, which costs about $31,800. With the Boxes of Love donation of $30,126, the school will receive about 570 desks, or 95 percent of the school's desks.

By the numbers

Treats made: 29,225
Packages delivered: 597
Number of customers: 201
Smallest order:  $3 
Largest order: $3,384


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