Mara Hughes	Erin Miller

Seniors-to-be Mara Hughes, a defender from Pickerington, Ohio and Erin Miller, a midfielder from Hilliard, Ohio, knew that both summer jobs and training for their final collegiate soccer season would make it tough for them to physically go on a missions trip or to become involved in a long-term project. However, that did not deter them from getting creative and continuing to try to come up with a way in which they might contribute.

"Mara and I sat by each other in chapel and when Bob Goff spoke (click to listen) one day we were both impressed with all the charity work he had done and thought his story was really neat,” said Miller. "When Dr. Martin spoke in chapel the next week (click to listen) and issued the challenge, we both looked at each other and immediately knew we wanted to apply for this grant and help make an impact in our world somehow.”

After some discussion, Hughes and Miller came up with an idea to try to raise money for The Olevolos Project, an organization in Tanzania, Africa started by Dory Gannes, a former soccer player at the University of Michigan and a friend of Hughes. The mission of the Olevolos Project is to enable children from the Olevolos Village to grow up in a safe, secure, and supportive home environment and encourage them to become active contributing members of their local and global communities. The organization is currently in the construction phase, but ultimately it will meet the physical, educational, and emotional needs of more than 100 of the neediest AIDS orphans from the Olevolos Village.

"I met Dory four years ago when we both worked at camp,” said Hughes, a Psychology major who is spending her second full-time summer at Camp Nuhop in Perrysville, Ohio working with kids with special needs. "I was so impressed with her and the fact that here is someone my age that is making a huge impact on people on the other side of the world. When this grant was announced, I knew immediately that I wanted to go after it and try to help out with the Olevolos Project.”

As they put together their proposal to receive the grant, Hughes and Miller decided that if selected they would use the $500 for paper and postage with the goal of sending out letters to 500 people all over the country to ask for a donation towards the Olevolos Project. They knew that even if each recipient donated just $5 that they would quintuple their original grant and raise $2,500 for the organization. The money raised would all go directly towards supporting the current educational needs of kids in the village, finishing the construction of the administrative block and nursery school, and adding the first class of 20 kids to the nursery school program that is scheduled to open in January, 2010.

"The Vision Challenge really is an extension of our university vision - To Change the World with the Love of Christ,” said Dr. Martin of the reason for instituting the grant. "Erin and Mara had a very compelling application both in describing the ministry they wanted to raise funds for as well as in their creativity - using the funds to raise more funds. I thought the Vision Challenge would be a good way to let the students know that it does not require big things to change the world...little things done with great love can do that!”

"It is great to have Mara and Erin join in our efforts,” said Gannes, who is currently in Tanzania.  "Things are going awesome and progressing quite quickly.  We are about $14,000 away from opening the nursery school.  If we can raise this in the next few months, we will have our first class enrolled in January, 2010.  This help is coming at the perfect time.”

Having been selected to receive one of the grants, letters were typed up and sent out across the country to family members, friends, government officials, and celebrities along with return envelopes, a financial support response form, and a photo of some of the orphans who will receive help as a result of the donations. A postmark deadline of July 25 was set for the return of the donations to the Olevolos Project address in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and now Hughes and Miller are excitedly waiting to see what happens.  They are also hoping that they will be able to make a trip to Tanzania after they graduate in December to help with some of the physical labor for the orphanage.

"Mara and I have both been overwhelmed with the hurt and need we see in the world around us,” said Miller, a Marketing major who is working this summer at The Country Club at Muirfield Village - site of the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament. "We are both extremely blessed and wanted to do something to help out people who are not as fortunate as us. Sometimes, I just feel so helpless and this was one small way to give back. We are both praying about this and are really excited to see what God can do through this. Never underestimate the power of God.”

The Olevolos Project is a non-profit organization that is registered as a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible entity with all donations receiving a gift receipt for tax purposes. If you would like to contribute to this endeavor or for further information, please visit www.theolevolosproject.org or contact Hughes at (614) 537-5546 or Gannes by e-mail. You can also send a check made payable to The Olevolos Project directly to:

The Olevolos Project
57 Simpson Ave #2
Somerville, MA  02144

Please include a note with your gift that it is in response to the MVNU Vision Challenge initiated by Hughes and Miller.  If everyone who reads this story gave at least $1, then the nursery school project could easily be finished.

CBS College Sports Feature on The Olevolos Project