2015 Holy Laughter Recipient
WAM Theatre’s donation of $5,560 (25% of the box office proceeds of Holy Laughter) went to Hands In Outreach (HIO) and Sisters For Peace (SFO). This donation will allow HIO to make a direct deposit of at least $20 to the 125 families that HIO supports which can buy food for a family of four for a month. SFO currently sponsors four HIO girls to attend school and through WAM’s donation, in 2016, will be able to sponsor five girls to stay in school for the entire year.
About Hands In Outreach (HIO)
Run by Ricky Bernstein of the Berkshires, Hands In Outreach (HIO) is a small educational sponsorship program for poor, inner-city girls in Nepal. With a family oriented approach, HIO guides and empowers their girls to be strong, self-reliant adults. By actively partnering with children, families and schools, HIO encourages girls to remain in school, avoiding early marriage and a life of low-wage menial jobs. They carefully monitor the long-term well-being of our HIO families, promoting education as a means toward empowerment, gender equality and ultimately, an end to a family’s cycle of profound poverty. As part of Hand In Outreach’s work after the devastating earthquake that hit Nepal earlier this year, they provided a direct check to the 125 families they support for $50, which provided food for around three months and helped families rebuild.
About Sisters for Peace
Sisters for Peace, founded by Berkshire resident Caroline Wheeler, is a grassroots, non profit organization empowering women and girls, locally and around the world who are living in impoverished conditions.
