During June 2020 the Mary and Martha chapter of the Daughters of the King started pursuing a relationship with Sons and Daughters of the King in Liberia. The Daughters made contact with Julia Duncan-Cassell in Buchanan to start this relationship. By February 2021 our Daughters chapter started collecting items for Liberia—school supplies, toiletries, clothes—with the plan to ship near the end of March. Shipping barrels were purchased and on April 17, two small barrels were packed for shipment to Liberia.
On August 15th, 2021 Julia Duncan-Cassell from Buchanan, and president of her local chapter of the Sons and Daughters of the King, visited Holy Trinity Church. During coffee hour Julia shared a brief history of Liberia: the political coup followed by a violent civil war, Ebola, and now Covid19. Julia told heart-wrenching stories about the victimization of young girls and teens. Because of severe poverty, girls as young as ten are being sold as “child brides”, who are often abandoned with their young children without any means of survival.
Over time a parish commitment was made to help our Daughters with their ongoing mission in Buchanan, Liberia to provide critically needed essentials. The collection included girls’ and boys’ clothing, boxes of pens, pencils, crayons, notebooks, binders and paper, art and craft supplies in addition to toiletries shampoo, conditioner, bath soap, tooth-paste, toothbrushes, body lotion (cocoa butter cream), deodorant and recently face masks, hand sanitizer and low splash bleach. Any monetary donations were used toward shipping. A second shipment was sent in February 2022.
The Episcopal Church of Liberia has built schools which not only provide an education but also food, necessities and protection for children. The local churches in Liberia run the boarding schools which provide shelter for the children and support for their families. The Sons and Daughters of the King work within the Church to educate and empower girls. Education and empowerment help break the cycle of victimization. Boys are educated in the importance of respect and support for women and girls.
In early 2022 The Daughters applied for and received a grant from The Order of the Daughters of the King Self Denial Fund.for $3,000, to be used for the Liberian Project. With these funds, we will be able to totally fund all shipping costs including the costs of purchasing the barrels used to ship all the supplies to Liberia. This means that we will NO LONGER be asking for monetary donations to fund the shipping costs.
Receiving this grant enables us to go “full-steam ahead” on collecting supplies. We are actively asking for donations of children’s and women’s clothing, school supplies, toiletries (shampoo, bath soap, toothpaste, cocoa butter, etc.) and P.P.E supplies. (face masks, hand sanitizer, bleach, etc.). These supplies are shipped directly to the Episcopal Church in Buchanan, Liberia. Donations can be dropped off in the foyer before and after our church service.
