While most JC students will be decking the halls with boughs of holly over Christmas break, junior Ethan Slusher, sophomore Amy Slusher and their parents Barbara Slusher, class of ’82, and Charles Slusher will be spending their holidays in Nairobi, Kenya, volunteering at an orphanage.
The Slushers have been involved with the charity “Caring for Kids of Kenya” for over five years. Slusher family friend, Linda Wilson founded the charity after “visiting the orphanage about five years ago and falling in love with the children,” according to Ethan.
The Slushers are financial sponsors of the orphanage Shelter Children’s Home and have visited the orphanage in recent years. Their most recent trip was in the spring of 2009 when Ethan and Barbara visited the Shelter Children’s Home. This year, the entire Slusher family plans to go.
“Last year [spring of 2009] when my mom and I visited the home, we played ball, took walks and ate with the children. We planned a small party and took eight of them on a safari one day. [We] saw monkeys, giraffes, rhinos and elephants. Even though the kids live in Africa, they had never been on a safari, so it was new for all of us,” Ethan said.
This year, the family organized a Christmas party and will install a playground slide for the children.
A task of this caliber requires money, which is why the Slushers teamed up with the Cole Roofing Company to start a fundraising giveaway.
“Cole Roofing Company in Baltimore is giving away cash and/or services to one local enterprising non-profit. Interested non-profits place their names and information on the Cole website. The non-profit organization with the most votes will be the winner,” Ethan said.
The giveaway cash prize amount can be up to $30,000. Anyone can visit GreenRoofGiveaway.com to vote for “Caring for Kids of Kenya.”
In addition to helping the orphanage, the Slushers have personally helped two individuals at the orphanage.
“We have adopted a 12-year-old orphan named Joseph and are sending him to a Catholic boarding school so he can be educated. Joseph had never gone to school before, because school costs money in Africa, so the poor and orphaned typically can’t go,” Ethan said.
The family decided to sponsor Joseph after Wilson initiated a sponsorship campaign for children of the orphanage in Joseph’s situation. After “several letters, telephone calls, and Skype sessions, we really wanted to meet Joseph, so we planned a trip,” Ethan said.
The Slushers also hope to host 18-year-old Justin, who “is finishing high school and would like to come to the United States to go to college. If he is able to get into an American high school, then we will be his host family. We will know for certain in April 2011,” Ethan said.
“It is inspirational. The woman who runs the orphanage is an incredible example of selfless living,” Ethan said. “Every day she lives out the words of the prophet Micah: ‘Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.’”
“Mary does all the fundraising and management of the orphanage while simultaneously playing mom for the 200 orphaned children—most days without a salary. When you ask her about the work, she says that her ‘motivating fuel is the word of God’ and her constant prayer is ‘God, father of the fatherless, help me care for these young children,’” Ethan said.