The Power of One is a 501c3, non-profit organization—all donations are tax deductible. All donations to The Power of One go directly to our outreach mission of raising awareness of the global AIDS emergency and to support Grace Community Services, an orphanage in Eldoret, Kenya for HIV+ children.

• Outreach Mission: Last year The Power of One made over 40 presentations to public and private schools, church groups and community organizations. We believe that by raising awareness of the AIDS crisis and encouraging individuals to get involved, the tide of AIDS can be turned and lives can be saved.

Success Story: Written by Stan Abell, Executive Director of The Power of One. Last year we made a presentation at New Horizons School. New Horizons is the Indianapolis Public School’s alternative school—the last chance for most students to receive a high school diploma. These are students who have been expelled or flunked out of traditional high schools. After seeing part of our documentary and having some discussion, one of the students said, “Mr. Abell, it’s just not fair.” What’s not fair? “It is not fair that we have been so richly blessed, and they have to live like that. We have to do something.” What is critical to understand is that many of these students come from less than stable environments. Many of us would walk in to their class and assume they need our help. However, this young man was determined. He asked what he could do. A few days later I got a call from his teacher who invited me back to the school. When I arrived, the young man who said, “We have to do something,” handed me a jar filled with crumpled dollar bills and change. The jar was life-saving. In the jar was $311 that he had collected from his schoolmates, family and friends. About three hundred dollars, less than a dollar a day, is what it takes to purchase antiretroviral therapy that literally saves a life. This drug therapy allows HIV+ persons to return to their families and communities as active, functioning and fully participating members of society. This young man literally saved a life. Individuals can make a difference.

• Grace Community Services: Grace Community Services is an orphanage being built to care for children who are HIV+. Children who are HIV+ have almost no chance of being adopted and most often are abandoned and left to die. Joshua and Miriam Mbithi, the founders of Grace Community Services, are building an orphanage that will house and care for this marginalized group of children.

Forced Out: Prior to founding Grace Community Services, Joshua and Miriam were the parents of another orphanage in Eldoret, Kenya. Miriam actually grew up in that orphanage. However, the headmaster of the state school with which the orphanage was associated had a son who he wanted to run the orphanage. Consequently, the Mbithis were forced out.

However, the Mbithis had vision and hope. They chose to see being forced out as an opportunity to fulfill a dream—the dream of being able to take in and care for HIV+ children; children who would otherwise be abandoned. Their goal is to build and staff a facility that will eventually be able to care for 50 children who are HIV+. The dream is underway. While plans are rapidly taking shape, the Mbithis have begun caring for the first HIV+ children in their own home.

Making a Donation: Checks should be written to The Power of One, 100 W. 86th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46260. Or, credit cards donations can be accepted by using the PayPal button above.