14+ Foundation, a non-profit organization established by Joseph Mizzi and Nchimunya Wulf in 2012 to develop, build and operate schools in rural African communities, is pleased to announce that it will host its Annual Cocktail Benefit Supporting Children’s Education in Africa. The evening will feature performances by Estelle and Adeline.
The event will take place on Thursday, October 4, 2018 from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM at Sony Hall located at 235 W. 46th Street. Sony Hall, formally well known as The Diamond Horseshoe, was reopened in March of 2018 after undergoing select modern renovations.
An Evening for Children’s Education
The event will be hosted by 14+ Co-Founders, Joseph Mizzi and Nchimunya Wulf. This year’s honorary event chairs are US Olympians Natasha Hastings (two-time Olympic gold medalist) and Daryl Homer (Olympic silver medalist and 2018 National Champion). The event will also feature three co-hosts; American-Ethiopian model Gelila Bekele, Studio One Eighty Nine Co-Founder Abrima Erwiah and activist Asmeret Berhe-Lumax. The event will also be celebrating 14+ Foundation’s Director of Design and Construction Fabian BeDolla for his unrelenting dedication to the building of these schools. 14+ has partnered with Everyday People for the second year in a row and will feature a short film by Yak Films.
Funds to Build Schools and Opportunity
Proceeds from the benefit will support the finalization of 14+ Foundation’s Mwabwindo School (winner of the 2017 Panerai Design Miami/ Visionary Award), a primary school opening in January 2019 designed by Selldorf Architects, as well as to support the ongoing operations of the Chipakata Children’s Academy along with the foundation’s other essential community-based projects and programs.
All these initiatives are centered on 14+ Foundation's core beliefs: empowering children through education; volunteerism; achieving meaningful engagement with the community; and the importance of arts-based education and quality design.
For more information about the event or to register, please visit www.14plusfoundation.org
About 14+ Foundation
14+ Foundation, Inc. is a NYC-based 501(c)(3) non-profit established in 2012 by Joseph Mizzi and Nchimunya Wulf to develop, build and operate schools and orphanages in rural African communities.
The organization and its initiatives are centered on the following core beliefs: empowering children through education; volunteerism and working with others to realize common goals; achieving a meaningful engagement with the communities it serves; the importance of arts-based education; and that quality design can inspire and make a difference.
While 14+ has many meanings to its founders, in short 14+ represents a commitment to inspire positive lives in children and young adults in Africa through its projects and programs in order to reach their full potential.
14+ Foundation’s first project, the Chipakata Children’s Academy in Zambia, Africa, opened in January 2015 and serves more than 200 children of the Chipakata Village community. Each student is provided a free education including books and uniforms. Full-time housing is provided for its teachers, who are employed directly by 14+ Foundation along with other administrative and maintenance staff. A daily meal program is being incorporated to address nutritional needs. Prior to the school opening, the children of this community had to walk more than 14 km (close to 9 miles) total each day back and forth from the nearest available school.
Mwabwindo School is a primary school located in Zambia, Africa that encompasses a total of eight classrooms, separate art, computer and library spaces, as well as administrative spaces and teacher’s offices covered by a 30,000 square foot steel and metal roof canopy. The school will also provide a clinic for onsite medical services and a kitchen for food preparation as well as eight teachers housing units, community gardens and a variety of playing fields. Renewable energy resources including solar and wind energy systems are integrated into both school and teacher’s housing to provide power, lighting and to deliver fresh water to students, teachers and members of the community.
To learn more about the Foundation please visit, www.14plusfoundation.org
