It all started in 2006 when 9-year-old Stefan Lyon came home and announced that he really wanted to build a school for the poorest children in Africa. That day in class he had learned about the extreme poverty in Africa. “I felt very sorry for the children who were hungry and had no place to go. I wanted to help by building a school for the poorest children there. My mom agreed to help me after I promised to raise the money and finish what I started.”
That same year he started selling homemade cookies from my red wagon to make money to fund his school in Africa. But he needed to make more money faster and had another idea... Why not write a book about his pet "Stitch" to help raise more money? With the proceeds from that first book he was able to raise $5,000. That’s how he funded his first school in Kenya.
After the success of his first book, he wrote two more books about his pet Stitch. So far the proceeds from his books have raised over $100,000. This money was used to build another school in Africa, which the children have named “Stefan’s Academy”. When Stefan went to visit he noticed how grateful these children truly were. They had all been through so much and had every right to be bitter about life. Instead, they were very grateful and happy to be together and have an education..
The Stefan Lyon Foundation has continued to fund the construction of sustainable schools to empower impoverished children in developing countries:
- 2008 – A schoolhouse in Kakamega, Kenya
- 2011 – A large elementary school in Bungoma, Kenya
- 2013 – Began Construction of a 5 room high school in Bungoma, Kenya
