Pens for Kids Canada was founded by Ali Lodi in 2008. In December 2008, Ali raised more than $9,000 for Save the Children Canada. These funds were for Save the Children's programs in Kenya and Tanzania.
This fund raising was part of a group effort which raised more than $200,000 for Save the Children Canada's programs in Africa.
The group also took part in a fund raising trek which involved summitting Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Upon arriving in Tanzania, Ali noticed that the poor village kids in rural Africa cherished being given pens and pencils even more so than food and money. Lots of established charities bring food, clothes and money to the poor villages in Africa, but none of the existing charities supplied stationary. This led to the formation of Pens for Kids Canada in January 2009.
Since 2009, Pens for Kids Canada has donated thousands of stationary items to children in Tanzania, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan and Cuba.
Since inception, Pens for Kids has been funded privately by our founder and majority of the stationary donations have been from friends and family.
We are always looking for donations of new or used stationary. We also work with Pens for Kids Denmark and Pens for Kids UK who have trusted ambassadors in many third world countries who make sure that the stationary ends up in the hands of the kids.
If you would like to donate any pens, crayons, pencils, colour pencils, markers, erasers, colour books or notepads please contact us at email: info@pensforkids.ca or Ph: 416 278 9511