Our History

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Our History

Concept of Mission EduCare

The concept behind Mission EduCare started in December 2005 when our founder and President, Denise Allen, received an email from her friend, Kathy Creavalle, who recently relocated to Nairobi, Kenya from Brooklyn, New York. In this email, Kathy made a request to her network of friends, to take the time and think about the less fortunate children in Kenya while we were preparing to celebrate the holiday season. In particular, she provided pictures of one of the school districts in Kenya, Mukurweini, in which many of the children did not have shoes. In addition, many of the classrooms were built from mud, did not have electricity, floors, windows, doors, or bathroom facilities. Despite these conditions, these children were eager to learn and outperformed many students in Nairobi.

This one email triggered a call to action for Denise. She initiated a project under Blue Nile Enterprises called the Kenya Shoe Initiative to benefit the children in one of the schools in the Mukurweini district, Mbugwa Primary School. Her goal was to help tackle one of the several issues affecting these children by purchasing shoes for them in order to make their long walks to school on the unpaved, dirt roads a bit easier. Denise and Kathy reached out to their internal network of colleagues, friends and family and inspired them to donate funds to purchase shoes for the children. Denise and Kathy recognized that the expense to have the shoes made in Kenya would be much less than purchasing the shoes in the US and having the shoes shipped to Kenya, which enabled the funds donated go a longer way.

In matter of a few short weeks, their vast network of contacts responded with amazing support. In February 2006, over 253 new pairs of shoes were made in Kenya and distributed to every child in the Mbugwa Primary School.

During the Kenya Shoe Initiative, Denise recognized that the spirit of giving was contagious. Once people learned of the effort , they were more than willing to contribute their time, resources, and skills to help with this effort. They were able to spread the donated funds much further than expected, since the manufacturers of the shoes provided generous discounts towards this effort. In addition, since the costs of the shoes were so low, Denise and Kathy were also able to purchase book bags for every child in the school, again at extraordinary discounted rates. The project was a huge success and exceeded all expectations.

Birth of Mission EduCare

The impact of the power of giving during the Kenya Shoe Initiative forever changed Denise’s life. She remained active in various philanthropy efforts, and was always amazed how her network of contacts, armed with a diverse set of skills and experience, was always willing and committed to contribute their time and resources for various efforts.

The decision to form Mission EduCare was born after watching a segment of 60 Minutes which aired on March 27, 2011 featuring Elissa Montanti who is the founder of the Global Medical Relief Fund. Denise was mesmerized how this one woman, Ms Montanti, could show such dedication and passion to help children who were missing limbs, eyes, have been severely burned, or have been injured due to war, natural disaster or illness. It was living proof how one woman's work can make a global impact.

Denise decided to form Mission EduCare as a non profit organization, and detach it from Blue Nile Enterprises, so that she and the team can focus their attention to helping children with education. She assembled a group of individuals with a diverse set of skills and experience who all share the same passion and vision to enhance the education opportunities for children globally. They all sacrifice their time and resources for this cause. They are committed to inspire other individuals to contribute their talents and gifts towards the mission of providing essential educational materials, training, and infrastructure to under served and developing communities globally.