The Fine Art Honor Society at Cheyney University in Pennsylvania is leading a university-wide effort to collect educational supplies for the nonprofit organization Lift Up! Namibia. The southern African nation of Namibia is a former German colony that later came under the control of the Republic of South Africa. It gained full independence in 1990.
Lift Up! Namibia was established in 2016 by Caroline Andjaba, the wife of the Namibian ambassador to the United States. Marietta Dantonio-Madsen, chair of the fine arts, design and liberal studies department at Cheyney University said that “I reached out to Madame Caroline and we later met in Washington, D.C., to discuss the educational needs of the students of Namibia, and outline how Cheyney could assist to further raise awareness and collect supplies.”
Returning to campus, Dantonio-Madsen began effort to teach students how to negotiate and organize a service project, write sponsorship letters, and structure a nonprofit donation list. Students in a graphic design course at Cheyney designed posters and other promotional materials used to generate support for the students’ campaign to raise educational supplies for Namibian children.
Students are collecting pencils, tape, permanent markers, erasers, backpacks, mathematical sets, sharpeners, scissors, rulers, composition books, pens, crayons, binders, puzzles, rulers and any new or used books. Drop-off boxes have been set up in several locations around campus.
