On April 26, All As One Academy had their second annual Sports Day. The morning began with high spirits and much anticipation from the kids. The teams, or houses (Amara House, Azania House, and Deanna House), had spent a lot of time playfully trash-talking each other about who would win the day. Before the games began, a few of the athletes displayed their house signs. I love the mottos of the houses (chosen by the students), shown at the bottom of each banner. Once the games began, the competition was fierce, and the kids were having a fantastic time! Then the skies opened up, and heavy rain poured down for so long that the games had to be canceled! Unfortunately, we don’t have the funds for a do-over. But, while the abrupt ending to the day was a disappointment, these kids are so resilient and happy about every fun moment they get! If their gratitude could be bottled, we could truly change the world with it! To learn more about our work or to make a donation to help the kids, please visit AllAsOne.org. (fb)

Our sweet Fatmata, the 7-year-old girl featured in our January newsletter, has just come to live at the Children’s Center. She had lost both of her parents and was living with an aunt, who already had five children, while enrolled as a kindergartener at the All As One Academy. After she missed a month of school, we discovered it was because she did not have shoes. At school, she didn't smile and would often hide away to eat alone, feeling inferior to the other students. Fatmata's situation really touched our hearts, and we’ve been working to help her in whatever ways we can. Last week, we were thrilled to welcome her to her new family and new life at the Center. We even saw her first tentative smile and wanted to share it with you. I'm sure we'll be able to share her first “real” smile soon! What a blessing she is to us! It’s such a privilege to be involved in the AAO kids' lives, knowing you’re helping to positively change their futures. And they really need you now. Since January, we have not had significant new funding, and we’ve depleted what we had from the end of 2024. To donate or learn more about our work, visit AllAsOne.org. We look forward to your help in keeping these wonderful children from going hungry and giving them the chance to have an education. Thank you, my dear friends! With love and gratitude, Deanna Wallace AAO Executive Director [Visit bit.ly/AAO-Apr-2025 to view this April 2025 newsletter online.] (fb)