Kids 4 Afghan Kids Group Asks Northville Community For Donations

Allie Pierce, Haley Clafton and Erica Meister  are three seventh graders with a mission – to educate and inform the Northville community and other states about an organization they are extremely passionate about called Kids 4 Afghan Kids.

The three girls kicked off their awareness drive at the first annual Business Showcase Taste of Northville in March. According to Pierce, the girls managed to raise $239.40 at the event. They asked donors to scratch-off  sheets between $1 to $6 in exchange for a sheet of coupons that local businesses donated to the girls.

"The Northville businesses were very generous and very supportive of our efforts to raise money for our clinic. We hope the residents of Northville will do the same," said Pierce.

Kids 4 Afghan Kids is a Michigan non-profit organization that was founded in 1998 by Khris Nedam, a teacher at , and her students. The goal of the organization is to reestablish educational facilities for boys and girls in Afghanistan. Supporters also want to provide a means of addressing the poor health conditions children and their families are facing.

According to Nedam, 98 percent of Afghan children are malnourished and 42 percent of  are illiterate. The first school opened in March 2001 and had 465 students enrolled.

The events of 9/11, came with some challenges for the group. Nedam had to convince the village elders that despite the tragic event, they where still going to stay and continue with what they had started.

Nedam said that there are more than 1,200 Afghan students enrolled – 600 boys and 600 girls – and there are another 2,500 on a waiting list. There are currently two elementary schools, one high school and one orphanage. 

Until last fall, there was a running medical clinic where both Dr. Tom Grams, a retired dentist from Colorado, and a local Afghan doctor had been working.

Dr. Grams and eight other individuals were ambushed and murdered while on a humanitarian medical trip in a near by village last August.

When Dr. Gram arrived in 2004 he was amazed at the amount of plaque he had to remove and that no one owned a toothbrush, Nedam recalled. October of last year struck the organization again with the death of their beloved Afghan doctor who passed away from cancer.

With the loss of the village’s dentist and doctor they currently are without a medical clinic.

Pierce, Clafton, and Meister hope to change that.

The three seventh graders are trying to raise awareness for the organization they believe so strongly in.

The girls hope to make the month of May Kids 4 Afghan Kids awareness month. Pierce's mother, Lori Schafer, works closely with the three girls on their project.

They are working with local schools , and elementary schools, and possibly in hopes of creating fundraisers for their cause as well as to educate students about the organization.

Allie Pierce said that the group wanted to get the medical clinic back up and running as soon as possible but they need the money to be able to do so.

“It takes around $15,000 per year to do so," Pierce said. "Those expenses will cover a new dentist, doctor, midwife salaries as well as travel expenses and the supplies to keep the clinic up and running”.  

Since their school fundraisers may not generate enough money, they are also suggesting that people in the community go to their Web site to make a monthly $5 donation or a one time donation of any amount.