Ashley Messick's Work with Project Shelter Wakadogo | Held's Hero Award

We are proud to announce Ashley Messick as the winner of the first Held’s Hero Award in 2023! Our Held’s Hero Award honors team members who represent the spirit of philanthropy, and today we share what Ashley had to say about her volunteer work with Shelter Wakadogo:

“Shelter Wakadogo was founded in 2005 and began as a student group at McGill University, my alma mater. I initially became involved to help organize a fundraising event to help the children of Northern Uganda. At that time, a rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army, was terrorizing the north of the country. The LRA was accused of widespread human rights abuses including the recruitment of child soldiers. An estimated 30,000 children would leave their rural homes nightly to commute to urban centers or IDP camps out of fear of abduction. I was touched by the personal story of one of the shelter founders, Farah, whose family had been directly impacted by the conflict in the region. We became fast friends and held many fundraisers with the initial goal of building a shelter for these night commuter children. We called it Project Shelter Wakadogo, which means ‘for the little ones’ in Swahili.

By 2006, the LRA was no longer operating in Uganda and their leader had been found guilty of war crimes. However, after two decades of civil war, this area of northern Uganda was rife with issues. In reaction to the needs of the community, we settled on opening a school. In 2007, the school opened with just four classrooms and 60 learners aged three to six years old. Today it educates 477 children and has one of the highest retention rates in the country. Wakadogo operates a feeding and healthcare program, an extra-curricular program for sports and music, and was recently awarded the world’s best school prize for overcoming adversity for its work during COVID-19. In an area that doesn’t have reliable electricity, let alone internet, online learning wasn’t a possibility, so Wakadogo delivered homeschooling and radio teaching to its student population.

Volunteering has always been a part of my life, instilled in me at a young age by my parents. I grew up aware that I was fortunate to have a good education and recognize the opportunities it has enabled in my life. With so many around the world unable to access such opportunities, I am grateful to be able to volunteer and give back what I can. There is always something you can do to help others. Whether it is your time or a skillset, anything you can share and put towards helping others will make a difference.”

Through the J.S. Held Helping Hands program, we collectively uphold our goals of supporting the communities we serve, supporting the charitable endeavors of our employees, and helping all of us feel more connected to the world around us.

As our quarterly Held’s Hero Award recipient, Ashley receives a grant to support Shelter Wakadogo. Congratulations, Ashley!