2022 was the year we learned that scale doesn’t dilute impact, it multiplies it.
The “HIECH in My School” initiative wasn’t about visiting just one school. It was about proving that community support could reach multiple institutions, that our growing donor base meant growing reach, that saying yes to one school didn’t mean saying no to another.
GCD. Pentecost Preparatory School. Little Sparks. Three schools. Three communities. Three opportunities to show up.
GCD: Where Energy Meets Need
Walk into GCD on any given day and you’ll feel it immediately, the energy of children who want to learn but are working with resources stretched thin. Teachers here are magicians, making much from little, but even magic has its limits.
We arrived with educational supplies that transformed those limits. New textbooks replaced torn, shared copies. Fresh stationery meant every child could take notes simultaneously instead of waiting their turn. Learning aids that seemed basic, charts, maps, science materials, suddenly made abstract concepts tangible.
A teacher pulled us aside, voice thick with emotion. “Do you know what it’s like teaching science without proper materials? I’ve been describing experiments I can’t demonstrate for three years. Three years.” She held up a new science kit. “Today that changes.”
Pentecost Preparatory: Faith Meets Action
Pentecost Preparatory sits in a community where faith runs deep and resources run shallow. The school does holy work, educating children whose families sacrifice daily to keep them enrolled. But sacrifice has limits, and school supplies were often where families had to draw the line.
We didn’t just bring supplies. We brought relief. Relief for parents who’d been choosing between feeding children and buying notebooks. Relief for students who’d been sharing pencils in groups of four. Relief for teachers who’d been supplementing from their own shallow pockets.
The headmaster gathered the students in the courtyard. As we distributed supplies, he reminded them: “This is what community looks like. People you’ve never met, who owe you nothing, chose to invest in your future. Remember this. Pay it forward.”
One student, maybe Class 5, raised his hand. “Sir, how do we thank people we’ll never meet?”
The headmaster smiled. “You use these supplies to learn. You work hard. You become the kind of person who shows up for others. That’s the thank you they’re waiting for.”
Little Sparks: Where Small Means Mighty
The name says it all, Little Sparks. A small school doing mighty work, often overlooked simply because they’re not the biggest, not the loudest, not the most visible. But small schools need support just as much, sometimes more.
The joy at Little Sparks was uncontainable. These children knew what it meant to be remembered, because they’d experienced being forgotten. When larger organizations do school donations, smaller schools like Little Sparks rarely make the list. But HIECH Foundation’s community doesn’t measure schools by size. We measure them by need and by the quality of education they’re fighting to provide.
The children sang for us. Not a rehearsed performance, but spontaneous, joyful noise. They showed us their classroom, their playground, their dreams written in crayon on construction paper taped to walls. “When I grow up, I want to help schools like people helped us,” one said.
Mission accomplished.
The Power of Three
Here’s what three schools taught us: presence multiplies. Every school we visited, word spread. Other schools heard. Other communities saw. The message was clear, HIECH Foundation shows up, and we show up for those who need it most.
But more than that, reaching three schools in one initiative taught our volunteers about sustainable impact. This wasn’t a one-off project. This was a model. This was proof that community donations could fuel ongoing, expanding work.
To our 2022 donors who made “HIECH in My School” possible across three institutions: you proved that growing doesn’t mean diluting. You showed that saying yes to multiple schools wasn’t overreaching, it was exactly the right reach. You demonstrated that community support, when properly mobilized, has no ceiling.
And to GCD, Pentecost Preparatory, and Little Sparks: you reminded us why education is the foundation of everything. You showed us teachers who refuse to quit despite the challenges. You introduced us to students who hunger for opportunity. You proved that investment in education is never wasted.
Three schools. Countless lives touched. One undeniable truth: when community commits to education, everyone wins.