Charlie Redden

This is not about me so I will keep the personal introduction short.  I am an attorney in Chicago and the founder of the 501c charity, Save A Soul Foundation.  (www.saveasoulfoundation.org.)  Called SAS for short, the charity combined the establishment of a children's home for orphans and funding of secondary and higher education for the SAS children and other children from a local village in Limuru, Kenya.  It is for these children that I am creating these boards.

I have long believed that the best gift is an education.  I certainly would not have the life I do without the education I was provided.  Charities that help with healthcare, food and clean water, small business support, etc., all provide valuable assistance to those in need.  But too often, those charities offer only temporary relief and too much of the money donated goes to fundraising and other administrative costs.  SAS is something quite different.  100% of every dollar donated to SAS goes directly to pay for education otherwise unavailable to these children.  In Kenya, secondary school and above is unsupported by the government and private funds are scarce.  With just an 8th grade education, one is almost certain to live a life in extreme poverty.   So the monies we solicit from donors all goes to education -- every single penny.  I use my personal donations to support the building and maintenance of the children's home and school and I cover all incidental costs down to the fees for converting dollars to Kenyan shillings.

Recent changes in the laws in Kenya have caused us to change the children's home for orphans into a private boarding school.  In this way, we have been able to keep the children at SAS and expand our mission.   The school we are presently building on the site is for grades 1-8.   The donated monies go to pay secondary education for SAS children who have "graduated-out" of the boarding school. There, they are boarded until graduation from high school. 

I have always had a need to express myself through some form of artistic endeavor.  For many years, I did watercolor paintings.  Most recently, I took up the creation of serving/charcuterie boards.  I started in the winter of 2021, cutting, sanding, adding epoxy inlay and oiling the boards in my Oak Park Illinois apartment.  The cutting and sanding was done on my 20th floor balcony.  You can imagine how much fun that was in the cold and wind!  More recently, I have been provided with a work-space in a garage and added tools needed for the more "sophisticated" boards I now make.  

With the world-wide consequences of Covid, fundraising has never been more difficult.  I have created "Board'em" in the hope that I might entice donations for these children.  Donors used to receive watercolor paintings of mine as a gift of thanks.  I am now offering these cutting/serving/charcuterie boards as gifts of thanks.  Each board is available for a stated minimum donation.  Feel free to donate more!  Custom orders would be welcomed.  

I appreciate that one could purchase serving boards for far less (though they would not be as pretty or unique as these!).  But the minimum donation is just that -- a donation to a great cause.  These boards are my gift of thanks on behalf of the children of SAS. 

Charlie Redden