BALDWINSVILLE — Last year, the Messenger reported on the efforts of Kevin Candee and Jason Premo to raise money for bathroom renovations at St. Menas Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Home in Mityana, Uganda. Despite some delays thanks to the pandemic, the new bathrooms were completed in July 2021. Now, Premo and Candee, both Baldwinsville residents, are setting their sights on a new fundraising goal: approximately $18,000 for a new kitchen for the orphanage.
“You can’t duck low enough to keep your head below the smoke. The poor ladies who are in there cooking day and night … it’s got to be really horrible for their health,” said Candee, a consultant with Aqua Energie who regularly travels to Uganda for work.
The poor conditions in St. Menas’ kitchen affect not just the cooks, but also the children who are forced to eat sitting on the floor.
“There’s no table, no chairs,” Candee said. “It’s extremely rustic.”
Candee asked his friend and neighbor, Jason Premo, to co-sponsor the kitchen project. Premo owns Randy Cramer Snow and Lawn, and he challenged his three children last year to perform “One Good Deed” for family, friends and neighbors who promised to donate to St. Menas.
“I thought it was a neat cause and it came at a time when we needed to be reminded of what we had,” Premo said.
The “One Good Deed” project gave Premo’s kids a chance to “exercise their empathy muscles.”
The Premo children raised $755, which their father matched.
“We can sit and have a hypothetical discussion about empathy … but to have a concrete example of how you’re changing other people’s lives, I think that really resonates,” Premo said.
With the kitchen renovation as the next goal, the Premos are continuing their One Good Deed campaign.
“We are having our kids reach out to their friends and challenge them to do good deeds,” Premo said. “[We’re] putting a whole lot of mojo into the community.”
Premo has shared his children’s altruistic adventures on social media. He encourages people who want to share their acts of kindness to contact him at [email protected].
Candee said his own daughter had been saving money to buy an iPhone, but she decided to donate it to the orphanage instead.
“I’m hoping that these kids learn something and give back,” he said.
While kids in Baldwinsville are learning to pay it forward, the children of St. Menas are taking an active role in remodeling their kitchen. Masagazi Joel Yawe, one of the orphanage’s founders, has borrowed a brick-making machine for the children to help build the new kitchen.
“Not only will that save us a lot of money but … the kids will learn a trade. We still want them to live sustainable lives so learning a trade like brick-making is useful,” Candee said.
To donate to the St. Menas kitchen renovation, visit gofundme.com/f/ha5kjj-vulnerable-children-of-mityana. For updates and more information, follow facebook.com/StMenasOVC.
