Projects - SHSKI

Name of Project	Students Helping Street Kids International
Location	Recife, Brazil
Contact	Bob Crites
Website	http://www.helpthekids.org/SHSKI/Welcome.html
Description of Project	SHSKI was founded in 1997 by WCPCA member, Bob Crites. It funds the private school education and pays for some additional expenses of children living in poverty in Recife, Brazil. As a rule these children are identified in elementary school and are supported through high school. Much of the organization's funding has come from the support of American school children, especially in the Eugene/Springfield area, where Bob worked for many years as a school counselor. Bob was a PCV in Brazil, 1964-66, and now lives with his wife in Recife for six months of the year. SHSKI is a nonprofit organization and donations are tax deductible. The average annual cost of one student's education is $3,600. Funds for this award came from distributions of the Beryl Brinkman Memorial Fund which was created with generous gifts to WCPCA and whose sole purpose is to support humanitarian programs. Beryl was a PCV in Afghanistan (1967-69), a founding member of WCPCA, and one of its most tireless leaders for over twenty years. The awards given in her name will honor her legacy of fighting poverty and building peace.
WCPCA Contribution to Project	$250
Date of Contribution	October 2009

Letter from Bob Crites

Dear West Cascade Peace Corps Association,

I am writing to acknowlege receipt of your $250.00 donation to Students Helping Street Kids International made on October 16, 2009. I am very grateful and humbled that, among the many deserving humanitarian projects that WCPCA could have chosen, you selected SHSKI as the beneficiary of your generosity and compassion.

We strive to make this a better world for children, and we feel that we are impacting the lives of some impoverished Brazilian children in a profound and consturctive way. Your donation is not only a benefit to us financially in carrying out our work with children in Brazil, but it also is a moral shot in the arm to have the recognition of West Cascade Peace Corps Association, which is inherent in your donation to us.

I remember a couple of years ago bringing Elizabete, one of our scholarship recipients from Rio de Janeiro, to speak at one of your monthly potlucks. It was a very positive and interesting experience for Elizabete, who was an exchange student at Springfield High School. And I feel that it was a positive experience for the WCPCA members who were present as well. Elizabete is now studying at a university in Rio. Next school year, I will be bringing Priscilla, to study at Churchill High School. Priscilla is from Recife, Brazil, and as many of you know, in spite of her impoverished living conditions, is an accomplished pianist who will go on to study at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance. I would like to bring her to one of your potlucks down the road when she is here. In fact, if a potluck can be arranged at the home of someone who has a piano, I am sure that she would be delighted to play for you.

Once again, receiving this donation from West Cascade Peace Corps Association is so meaningful to this ole Peace Corps Volunteer who is still plodding along tyring to make a difference in the developing world. Thanks for the help, and the recognition. I am proud to be a member of WCPCA.

My Warmest Regards,

Bob Crites, Founder/President
Students Helping Street Kids International
P.O. Box 2069
bcrites@helpthekids.org
www.helpthekids.org