As one of our three core pillars, philanthropy has always been an integral part of our chapter operations. We recruit members who understand the importance of giving back to the communities that give so much to us. Columbus, OH has become a home to us and gives so much to us everyday in terms of culture, opportunity, and community, which is why it is so important that we acknowledge and reciprocate the giving spirit that the long term residents and firms in Columbus continually show the students of Ohio State. Through Gladden House food donations, volunteering with The Ronald McDonald House, raising thousands of dollars each year for Buckeyethon, and more, we strive to be active members of our Columbus community.
One of our members, however, has gone above and beyond in his efforts to support the community, and his story and his community stretch far beyond the city limits of Columbus, OH. Josh Babb has founded the non-profit organization Love Rwanda following a mission to Rwanda with the U.S. Army. While there, Josh’s eyes were opened to the desperate need the Rwandan community has for support. The Rwandan Genocide of 1994 left the country devastated and as the attention of the world has turned elsewhere over the past 25 years, there is still much left to be done in Rwanda. In just 100 day, over 800,000 people were killed in Rwanda and millions of people fled the country or were displaced. Survivors were left with massive psychological trauma, children were left without families, and communities were completely destroyed. During his time there, Josh saw for himself how much work still needs to be done before Rwanda will be recovered from the trauma and destruction of the genocide. He learned that over ⅓ of all children under the age of 5 in the country are malnourished and realized that he wanted to do everything in his power to help.
A guiding bible verse that Josh thinks of often is, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me,' (Matthew 25:40). Since he has come back to America, Josh has immediately jumped into action. Josh created Love Rwanda to
“help the people of Rwanda thrive in the areas of education, medical care, and the creation of generational wealth.”
Love Rwanda organization partners with another Rwandan-based nonprofit organization which promotes handmade Rwandan goods. Love Rwanda then markets and promotes these goods within the United States, facilitates the bulk shipment of purchases between countries, and returns all profits to their partner organization in Rwanda to be put towards helping uplift the Rwandan people. Members of PSE Gamma Nu have been inspired by Josh and his passion and we were thrilled to be able to include Love Rwanda in our chapter marketing initiatives last year.
In August of 2019, Love Rwanda was just an idea in Josh’s head. Since then, they have grown into a fully certified 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a team of eleven people. Team members include: Thanks to the support of his brothers in PSE, The Ohio State University, and various donors, Josh is quickly seeing his idea come to fruition. He is very excited to announce that, despite delays due to Covid-19, Love Rwanda will be shipping its first box of products from Rwanda to the United States by mid-November! This milestone is both symbolic, demonstrating how far the organization has come and how far they will go in their efforts, and emblematic, announcing the first of many definitive actions Love Rwanda will be taking to benefit Rwandans in the future. With the passion and efficiency with which Josh and his team have built Love Rwanda up, we have no doubt that the good that Love Rwanda can do is limitless.
“Love Rwanda, Inc. has been a dream come true for me. I am so grateful to my team, our Rwandan counterparts, as well as our donors who helped make Love Rwanda happen.”
-Josh Babb, Love Rwanda Founder
Check the Love Rwanda website out!
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