Wegene's 10th Year Anniversary Message to Sponsored Families & Care-Givers:

Some of WEF's Accomplishments of the last 10 Years

• Supporting 28 families, of which eight have become completely self sufficient within three to five years of being in the program
• Enrolling over 75 homeless children in schools
• Providing new school uniforms and school supplies for sponsored children for each new school year
• Providing extra educational support, such as tutorials during the school year and funding summer classes for children who need improvements in weak areas, such as English and Math
• Providing vocational training to heads of families
• Providing seed money for families to open small businesses, such as bakery, coffee shop, convenient store, or crafts store to promote self sufficiency
• Rebuilding and renovating of crumbled homes for the supported families
• Building a school to accommodate over 150 elementary students
• Covering the expense of any health related issues for the supported families
• Providing private school and college scholarships for students based on academic merit

Accomplishment Archive

Accomplishments of 2010-2011

Accomplishments of 2009

Accomplishments of 2008

Accomplishments of 2007 with video

Accomplishments of 2006 with video

Wegene Fundraising Efforts

WEF's primary funding sources are its members, predominantly the Ethiopian Diaspora living and working in the United States, who contribute $10 monthly. In addition, innovative fundraising efforts such as selling t-shirts and crafts, bake sales and participation in different Marine Corps Marathons have helped raise money for the foundation's meaningful work. One of WEF's unique features is that it is 100% volunteer based, which is how the foundation has managed to keep overhead costs at less than 5% and spending 95% of its revenue on its programs.

Marathon

• Two of WEF members will be raising money by participating in the the Oct 31, 2010 Marine Corps Marathon Yewebdar Tadesse and Betelhem Shewareged
• We deeply appreciate your support for this event.

Bake Sale

• Colonnade shopping centre in Centreville Va July 11, 10-2
• Cardinal forest shopping centre in Springfield, Va July 18, 10-2

Craft Sale

Our team member, Amarech Worku organized a craft sale at the Jewish Community Center (JCC), 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, VA 22031. Amarech presented beautiful jewelry, T-shirts, flowers, and many other items that were all hand made. The event was a success. There will be more craft shows in the future, and we will keep you posted.

Wegene family efforts

Some of Wegene's families are very entrepreneurial and so far have achieved a lot by carrying out small and micro-businesses with some of which Wegene has helped setup. Wegene has also helped "fix-up" the homes of some families.

Wegene families

Via 7 caretakers, WEF continues to sponsor more than 20 families.
Here are some pictures of the Wegene families and their abodes. Click on the images to view them full size in a new window.