Sylvia Allen, Holmdel businesswoman and founder of Sylvia’s Children, was awarded 2011’s Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year on May 16 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) at the Crystal Plaza in Livingston.
Allen was chosen as the recipient of this award because of her commitment to the more than 1,000 children in Mbiriizi, Uganda, and the African village’s Advanced Primary and Day Care School. Since founding Sylvia’s Children in 2003, Allen has undoubtedly made vast improvements to the infrastructure of the school, the economy of the village and the well-being of the children, one-third of whom are orphaned due to the AIDS pandemic.
Since 2003, Sylvia’s Children has raised more than $400,000, all of which has gone directly to the school and its 1,001 children. It has built a well and a fully stocked library; purchased 7 acres of land, which it has used to build a corn milling business; donated Internet-equipped computers; constructed a dormitory with triple-decker bunk beds; built a playground; provided sporting and musical equipment; and built three additional double-classroom blocks as well as providing a full-time nurse and new stoves for increased cooking efficiency. It has also brought over a team of American doctors, nurses and dentists, all of whom have worked to treat and cure many of the children’s various ailments. Some have even saved the lives of dying children.
The mission of Sylvia’s Children is to create a self-sustaining model in African entrepreneurship, based on social capitalism, which can then be provided to schools in surrounding villages. Allen’s near-future plans are to develop a chicken farm, a uniform sewing trade, an arts and crafts cooperative, and a health clinic, which will all allow the school to be completely self-sustainable.