Charity Stripe: Sacramento State volleyball’s Currey donates to Congo
March 27, 2012
When a missionary from the Democratic Republic of the Congo spoke recently at Janelle Currey’s church about the orphanage he operates back home, many expected him to never return. The missionary said it is because the abundance found in the United States often tempts many to forsake the extreme poverty of Africa.
Currey said she was gripped by what she learned at the meeting about the harsh difficulties children face there. So the junior volleyball player decided to donate all the money she earns as a peer mentor at Sacramento State to the orphanage.
“It caused me to really look at myself and ask how can I give to this missionary,” Currey said. “So once I started my peer mentoring job, I decided that the money I make there I don’t necessarily need (because) I’m on scholarship. I have all my actual needs covered, so this money would just be extra money to spend on other things. I don’t need that, so I decided to take that money and give all that money to this orphanage. They need it much more than I do.”
Any look at the country’s Gross Domestic Product index will reveal this to be the case. Because the Democratic Republic of the Congo consistently ranks as one of the poorest nations in the world even though it is thought to have more than $24 trillion in untapped natural resources.
But extreme malnutrition, disease and two major wars that have taken place within the past 20 years have taken their toll on the Congo. These calamities have resulted in the death of more than 5 million of the nation’s citizens – 52 percent of which never see the age of 5.
“(The missionary is) taking in all these kids who literally have nothing,” Currey said. “He can only support as many kids as he has resources for.”
In the few months since she started her donations, Currey has given more than $1,000 to the orphanage, which equates to approximately 1 million Congolese francs.
Currey’s mother, Jana ten Pas, said her daughter is merely doing what she has always done and is fleshing out her Christian faith by putting her money where her heart rests.
“She has been volunteering her time in the community in some way or another from her own ambition since she was in fourth grade,” ten Pas said. “I’m grateful that she sees the need and is following through on it.”
Josie Wilmarth is a fundraising director for Compassion for Congo, a ministry helping raise support for the orphanage. The mother of six is also a member of Currey’s church and recently adopted 3-year-old twins who were abandoned at the orphanage.
When Wilmarth learned about the 20-year-old’s liberal donations, she said she was impressed.
“She could be doing a million things with that money that she earned,” Wilmarth said. “But that she spends it sacrificially for the good of others that she’s never even met before is remarkable.”
Currey said she hopes students will be inspired by her actions to be more sacrificial.
“I think it’s really healthy to have a perspective where you’re not always looking at what circumstance you’re in, but to look at what other people around you are experiencing,” Currey said. “It makes life a lot better for yourself (by) not thinking about yourself all the time. If there are lives that you can change, lives that you can affect in some way, then do it.”
David Somers can be reached at [email protected].