By 2011, approximately 30 percent of the children in Kenya will be orphaned, and many of these children will be placed in the care of orphanages, according to Kenya Orphanage Sponsorship Trust fund-raiser organizer, senior Mary Schmitz.

Schmitz has organized a fund-raiser to support the KOST Children’s Center in Homa Bay, Kenya. She became interested in the orphanage in the fall of 2001 when she traveled to the center. While there, she did art projects with the children and analyzed their artistic expressions.

“I loved learning about a different culture and developing friendships with the families I lived with and the children at the orphanage,” Schmitz said. “Everything is so much more vibrant there.”

She spent much of her time in Kenya with the children of the orphanage and felt compelled to support them through fund-raising.

Schmitz has set a collection goal for $2,000. So far, she said she has raised over $1,000. She collected $337.50 from Marquette students, at a table set up on the second floor of the Alumni Memorial Union earlier this week. All Saints church in Milwaukee and St. Luke’s Parish in Brookfield have also made significant contributions to the cause.

According to Schmitz, the money earned will go toward various things that are needed by the orphanage, including housing, food and clothes.

In addition, Schmitz said the orphanage helps fund the children’s studies.

To contribute to the program, people make a donation of any amount to KOST in the name of a friend or family member. The donor is then given a card. On the front of the card is a picture of a house drawn by a child from the orphanage, and the inside features a description of the fund-raiser.

The donor then gives the card to the friend or family member they made the donation in the name of, rather than a material gift.

Senior Eva Trujillo donated to the cause. She stressed the importance of helping the Kenyan children receive an education.

“It’s really hard to give them a good education,” she said. “That’s one of the things Mary (Schmitz) is trying to do. That’s why it’s so important.”

Senior Anne Wilzbacher also donated to KOST Kenya.

“I think it’s important to be aware of what is going on in other cultures,” Wilzbacher said,

The KOST Children’s Center was set up in 1998 by Pastor Mabel McParris as a response to the large number of children living on the streets in the town.