We have an exciting update to a previously posted article: Pre-K Students Hold Community Bake Sale to Benefit Children in Need!
A Lower East Side resident, Khal Chirwa, was so deeply touched by what our students and teachers at Evolution Enrichment Center are doing that he made a generous personal donation to support children in need at our school. This happened right in the midst of the winter holiday season and it felt like a miracle, and too good to be true. But it turned to be real when Khal Chirwa, who works at Sony Music Entertainment as a project manager, showed up at our Early Learning Center holding not one, but two checks in his hands. One check was from his mother and the other was from him personally.
We certainly wanted to know more about our angel donor, and this is the narrative that he shared with us:
My background is a bit unusual, but I’m happy to share with you whatever you may want to know. For the basics: my full name is Khalidwe David Chirwa. My mom is from northern Wisconsin and her family background is Norwegian. My dad was an immigrant student from Malawi (Africa) who got a scholarship to study at the same college in Wisconsin that my mom attended. My first name is from my dad’s language and means “to live one’s life in a positive way.” When combined with my middle name, David, it means “to live one’s life like David” (from the Bible). I have a sister that’s 15 years older than me. She used to live in NYC, but currently lives in Seattle.
I grew up in suburban Wisconsin & Ohio. I got my BA in psychology from Yale in 2003. I moved to the LES in 2005 and started working at Sony Music then, as well. I’ve been there ever since, working in licensing & contract analysis. Over the past few years, I’ve become involved in the NYC comedy scene (as a hobby / artistic outlet) and have written and produced several comedic sketches and web-video projects.
On a personal note, the reason I reached out was because of The Lo-Down post. Specifically because kids who perhaps came from “disadvantaged” households were being taught to do positive work, to help those in their community who needed even more help.
I grew up primarily with just my mom and we were on government assistance programs when we lived in Wisconsin. Still, she would take me to help serve dinners in homeless shelters around the city on a semi-regular basis because it was important to her to show me that, no matter one’s circumstances, there’s always the opportunity and the obligation to help out people around you.
We wanted to share this story with other residents of the Lower East Side, hoping the wonderful magic of it may touch the hearts of many, and other potential angel donors who would like to help other children in need get access to high-quality after school and enrichment programs offered by the non-profit charity O.C.E.A.N. Care Ltd.
Remember, it stands for “Organization for Creative Enrichment and Afterschool of New York,” and accepts personal and corporate donations.
