"What Does Loyce Do?"
Have you ever wondered what Loyce does when she is in Seattle? I used to support Mwanzo based only on what I knew about the work in Rabuor Village. Later I began to understand what it takes to run a nonprofit and make sure that the work in Kenya is grounded on a solid foundation. Let me give you a small glimpse of what Loyce does and how unique she is.
When Loyce returns from Rabuor, she has several responsibilities waiting for her. She collaborates with board members, our intern, and other generous friends of Mwanzo within and beyond our congregation.
Planning, creating, and hosting the return celebration program is one of the first things on the list. Then there is detailed reporting to funders about how their money was spent and what it accomplished. Loyce also reaches out to funders we hope to work with again or for the first time to build or strengthen our relationship with them. Her incredible skill and grace in relating to donors and funding organizations as if they were family builds warmth, trust, and loyalty. Thus, we’ve been invited by several organizations to propose multi-year grants after we have faithfully completed an initial grant with them. One of these, Vista Hermosa, was so pleased with the initial grant for the poultry program, agricultural training, support for the Mwanzo Women’s Group microfinance network, and food for our school children, that they invited us to propose a three-year grant, which after many, many hours of work, Loyce submitted at the end of January this year.
We were awarded a five-year grant from the Jonas Philanthropies Foundation for their Growing Trees for Climate Resilience Program. The program of planting 171,000 trees specifically suited to the local conditions will reforest land in and around Rabuor, Kenya. Tree varieties selected will include those bearing fruit, increasing soil fertility, tolerating drought, and providing protection from weather like sun and wind, to promote food security and resilience to climatic changes. This grant, together with the solar panels funded substantially with gifts from the Love and Justice Ministry and Sacred Earth Matters has helped Mwanzo leap forward in its climate mitigation engagement.
In all this work, Loyce’s north star value is relationships of trust and integrity, which makes her extraordinarily effective and appreciated by all who work with her. This grant writing, administration, and reporting is just one facet of the work that Loyce does in Seattle.
Written by Lillian Lahiri, Board Member