Today we’d like to introduce you to William McRae.
Hi William, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
In 2009 my wife’s twin sister was suddenly diagnosed with terminal colon cancer. Gina was an amazing teacher at Keystone Heights High School and she was a person of strong faith. It was always Gina’s dream to serve children. While teaching she personally touched so many with her loving touch in the classroom. Now her legacy has inspired a project that has touched hundreds of needy children in Africa for 15 years now.
Through divine direction, we were led to a young pastor in Kenya who was in desperate need of support to help save young children, particularly girls who while identified within their church, were still in danger from Maasai tribal traditions.
Gina’s Blessings is a faith-based nonprofit dedicated to providing high-quality education and safety to orphaned and disadvantaged Maasai children in remote Loita Hills, Kenya. By funding enrollment in high quality boarding schools, the organization protects vulnerable children, especially girls, from risks like child marriage and female genital mutilation while offering a stable environment for spiritual and academic growth.
This safe environment provides these children with a chance for a happy and productive life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
We started with our partner in Kenya, Pastor Solomon Saiguran send photos of needy children. We recruited sponsors who provided tuition support for the children to attend quality boarding schools, keeping them safe and offering a quality education.
When I realized there was no way to verify the project from afar, it became clear that the only verification would be to visit Kenya myself. Pastor Solomon assured me that he would take care of me and I flew to Kenya alone in the summer of 2012. The project was more dynamic than I could have imagined. The support that we provided not only impacted the children, but has had a real and noticeably positive impact on the community as well It has provided a hope and a chance for children to have a happy and productive life beyond the very basic life of the traditional Maasai tribal community.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a retired public education teacher and administrator. During my 35 year career, I taught music and social studies, and served as principal at the elementary and high school level.
The opportunity to manage the Gina’s Blessings ministry came at the very moment of my retirement in 2010. It now keeps me and my wife Tina quite busy as we now sponsor about 100 children recruiting sponsors and collecting and providing documentation for all of the contributions that are transferred to Pastor Solomon for the support of the children.
I have now traveled to Kenya 11 times over the years, and each trip is an amazing adventure and testimony of how God does amazing things in our world.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We encourage anyone who is led to sponsor a child or help support the Gina’s Blessings ministry to visit the
GinasBlessings.org website and/or give me a call or email to enquirer how we can work together in this amazing adventure. We have always taken pride that 100% of all proceeds go directly to serve the children with nothing reserved for administrative costs.
Pricing:
- High School Annual Tuition – $500.00
- Elementary Annual Tuition – $350.00
Contact Info:
- Website: https://GinasBlessings.org
- Facebook: Gina’s Blessings
