United Methodist Women
Next UMW Meeting
Sept. 2 at 12:30 in the CMC
Trinity UMW News
“It’s a loan, not a donation.”
When Norma Harris passed away in the fall of 2012 her family donated Norma’s collection of holiday
decorations and kitchen items to Trinity United Methodist Women. All the items were sold at that year’s UMW Fall Festival and we collected $144. It was decided in 2013 to use that money to participate in Kiva. Kiva is an
international nonprofit with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive by crowdfunding loans.
This is how it works: borrowers complete an application with a total loan request. Lenders from around the world lend in $25 increments until the loan is fully funded. The borrower agrees to a date to fully repay the loan. In the last 16 years 3.8 million borrowers from 77 countries have received loans from 1.9 million lenders (our UMW group is one of those lenders). In total, $1.54 billion in loans have been funded with a repayment rate of 96.1%.
The initial $144 from Norma Harris’s donation has been lent, repaid, and lent again in $25 increments for a
total of 33 loans. We have supported women in 17 countries. That initial $144 has become $875 in loans (with low interest rates) to women around the world. We have donated $1.32 per $25 loan to Kiva to cover the cost servicing the loans.
Through Kiva’s work, students can pay for tuition, woman can start businesses and improve their farm
production and families can afford needed emergency care. I have enjoyed being the administrator of Trinity UMW’s portfolio and each loan request details the life story of women dealing with extremes such as poverty and war. It is both humbling and encouraging to read their stories.
Below is Ines Virginia from Ecuador. Her loan was used to purchase materials to make bricks in the small brick factory she and her husband run. Her loan was 100% repaid. Learn more about Kiva at Kiva.org.
100% repaid!
Repaid
Ines Virginia
Bricks
Ecuador
Submitted by Bonnie Brooking
“It’s a loan, not a donation.”
When Norma Harris passed away in the fall of 2012 her family donated Norma’s collection of holiday
decorations and kitchen items to Trinity United Methodist Women. All the items were sold at that year’s UMW Fall Festival and we collected $144. It was decided in 2013 to use that money to participate in Kiva. Kiva is an
international nonprofit with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive by crowdfunding loans.
This is how it works: borrowers complete an application with a total loan request. Lenders from around the world lend in $25 increments until the loan is fully funded. The borrower agrees to a date to fully repay the loan. In the last 16 years 3.8 million borrowers from 77 countries have received loans from 1.9 million lenders (our UMW group is one of those lenders). In total, $1.54 billion in loans have been funded with a repayment rate of 96.1%.
The initial $144 from Norma Harris’s donation has been lent, repaid, and lent again in $25 increments for a
total of 33 loans. We have supported women in 17 countries. That initial $144 has become $875 in loans (with low interest rates) to women around the world. We have donated $1.32 per $25 loan to Kiva to cover the cost servicing the loans.
Through Kiva’s work, students can pay for tuition, woman can start businesses and improve their farm
production and families can afford needed emergency care. I have enjoyed being the administrator of Trinity UMW’s portfolio and each loan request details the life story of women dealing with extremes such as poverty and war. It is both humbling and encouraging to read their stories.
Below is Ines Virginia from Ecuador. Her loan was used to purchase materials to make bricks in the small brick factory she and her husband run. Her loan was 100% repaid. Learn more about Kiva at Kiva.org.
100% repaid!
Repaid
Ines Virginia
Bricks
Ecuador
Submitted by Bonnie Brooking
Vertical Divider
