Nothing makes us happier or more excited than sharing our story and cause with others. Check out the article below from The Tenneessee Register about Tailored for Education. Here is the link too!
May 25, 2012
St. Cecilia
alum helps children dress for school, success
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Photos courtesy of
Tailored for Education
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Megan Kelly, an alumnae of St. Cecilia Academy, is the co-founder of the
nonprofit organization Tailored for Education, which helps supply uniforms to
school children in developing countries like Tanzania and
Haiti.
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Ned
Andrew Solomon, Tennessee Register
Megan Kelly
graduated from St. Cecilia in 2002, attended and graduated from Boston
University, and began working at a private investment firm in Boston in the
spring of 2008.
She and a
co-worker, Jessica Roy – also a product of Catholic education in northern
Massachusetts – became fast friends, and decided to both get their masters
degrees in finance at Boston College in the evenings.
That turned
out to be the beginning of a partnership that would create educational
opportunities for thousands of children in developing countries.
“After we
graduated in May 2010 we realized that we had a lot more time on our hands,”
said Kelly. “We knew we needed a new project; we just weren’t sure what it was
going to be. We did know we wanted to do something that involved
children.”
About a
year ago, Kelly had a group of friends over for dinner, and a discussion ensued
about the different ways they might make a positive impact on the
world.
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Kelly
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“One of my
friends casually mentioned that children in Tanzania were required to wear
school uniforms in order to attend school, and that usually those uniforms only
cost around $17,” said Kelly. “Having worn uniforms my whole life, all through
Overbrook and St. Cecilia, it was a shock to discover that $17 could keep a
child from attending school.”
She told
Roy about the uniform need the very next day, and even thought she had a viable
next step. Kelly sews as a hobby, and had made pillows for her apartment and
curtains for friends. She thought she could make uniforms at home and send them
overseas.
While doing
Internet research to determine which countries require school uniforms, they
discovered that, for the most part, all African, Latin American and Southeast
Asian countries do. Kelly and Roy soon realized that the need was far too great
for their simple solution, and that making uniforms stateside would also take
business away from the local economies in the countries they were hoping to
support.
Unlike in the United States, the uniform requirement in these
countries is not just for Catholic or other parochial institutions; it’s for any
schools. “You’re dealing with children who have little to no clothes of their
own,” said Kelly. “So, they want to make sure that children show up in clothes
to begin with, and that no child feels like the poorest child in the
school.”
Since both
women wore uniforms in their own educational experiences, Kelly and Roy
understood the positive effects of proper school attire. Dressing up for school
contributes to feelings of self-worth and encourages children to value
education, and hopefully further instill those values in their own children. It
has been well documented that receiving an education helps interrupt the poverty
cycle systemic in many developing countries today.
Toward that
end, Tailored for Education, a 501 C3, was born in May 2011. In a year’s time,
the non-profit has established partnerships with seven agencies, also committed
to improving the lives of people in developing countries. Although they have
dealt directly with uniform suppliers and school administrations, more typically
Kelly and Roy work with other non-profits that are already involved with some
aspect of the schools they’re working in.
“Jess and I
can’t be on the ground in these counties, so partnering with existing
organizations that have staff in these places works as a better model,”
explained Kelly. “There are a lot of barriers to education. Uniforms are just
one of them. Other groups provide lunches for the children, or rebuild schools.
While they’re already eliminating one barrier, we ‘go in’ and eliminate
another.”
Since
December, Tailored for Education has raised just over $250,000. By this fall,
the non-profit venture will have provided funding for 5,400
uniforms.
Kelly and
Roy have been fairly successful fundraising through their website and social
media, and by giving presentations that promote awareness of the problem.
Recently, a private school in Boston did a charity choir concert to benefit the
initiative. Still it hasn’t been an easy sell. “We’ve found that uniforms have
been a really hard need to convey in the U.S., because most people associate it
with private or parochial schools, people that don’t necessarily need money or
help,” Kelly said. “It’s the total opposite in the countries that we’re working
with.”
Additionally, there’s the basic
undervaluing of education in this country. “A lot of children here, by their own
choice, drop out of high school and don’t finish,” said Roy. “In the U.S. there
almost has to be an incentivization program for children to finish school and
get good grades. In the countries we’re working in, the top priority is to get
kids a good education and get them out of poverty.”
But one of
the greatest things about
Tailored
for Education is that a donation of $20 really can make a significant
difference. “Right now, the average cost of a uniform is only $23, which most
people spend going out for ice cream, or two movie tickets and popcorn,” said
Kelly. “The life of a child can be changed with a really small
donation.”
For those
interested in contributing or finding out more about Tailored for Education,
visit www.tailoredforeducation.org, or
e-mail info@tailoredforeducation.org.
