Hundreds of parents and their children in Ethiopia are sending gratitude to Bendeshe’s Village.5 for Good covered the Kingston-based charity in March of 2022.The organization is named after Bendeshe Bonner, who goes by the name Ben.Now in high school, he was adopted from Ethiopia by Charlene Bonner when he was an infant. Unwell when he was born, his family couldn’t care for him. A reunion with his birth parents in 2020 inspired the creation of his namesake charity. The original goal was to renovate a school in his native village of Wondo Genet.Charlene Bonner said donations picked up after the charity was profiled on NewsCenter 5 and their plan evolved.“We ended up building a school,” she said. “It was beyond what we imagined we could do.”She said not only was Bendeshe’s Village able to provide for a new school, but also supplies, fresh uniforms, and a bathroom with running water.“They’ve never had one,” Bonner said. “They put showers in it, and the people from the community can come and wash there too. So, it’s really a community center.”The community of Kingston has supported various fundraisers hosted by Bendeshe’s Village. Volunteer Toni Ierardi said just one example was a flag football tournament.“(It) was super successful,” Ierardi said. “We’re hoping to do that again and also add a basketball tournament.”Ben Bonner said there are two specific projects the charity is working to raise money for now. One is to rebuild a bridge that’s in disrepair.Students need to cross the bridge to get to the new school.The second project is an addition to the main building.”We’re working on a renovation to add more classrooms,” he said.”We’re at the point where every kid in the village wants to go to the school,” Charlene Bonner added. “So, we built ourselves a really awesome problem.”She said once the addition is complete, the goal is to maintain a sustainable model for the charity and support the kids attending the school.Find more information about Bendeshe’s Village here.
Hundreds of parents and their children in Ethiopia are sending gratitude to Bendeshe’s Village.
5 for Good covered the Kingston-based charity in March of 2022.
The organization is named after Bendeshe Bonner, who goes by the name Ben.
Now in high school, he was adopted from Ethiopia by Charlene Bonner when he was an infant. Unwell when he was born, his family couldn’t care for him.
A reunion with his birth parents in 2020 inspired the creation of his namesake charity. The original goal was to renovate a school in his native village of Wondo Genet.
Charlene Bonner said donations picked up after the charity was profiled on NewsCenter 5 and their plan evolved.
“We ended up building a school,” she said. “It was beyond what we imagined we could do.”
She said not only was Bendeshe’s Village able to provide for a new school, but also supplies, fresh uniforms, and a bathroom with running water.
“They’ve never had one,” Bonner said. “They put showers in it, and the people from the community can come and wash there too. So, it’s really a community center.”
The community of Kingston has supported various fundraisers hosted by Bendeshe’s Village. Volunteer Toni Ierardi said just one example was a flag football tournament.
“(It) was super successful,” Ierardi said. “We’re hoping to do that again and also add a basketball tournament.”
Ben Bonner said there are two specific projects the charity is working to raise money for now. One is to rebuild a bridge that’s in disrepair.
Students need to cross the bridge to get to the new school.
The second project is an addition to the main building.
“We’re working on a renovation to add more classrooms,” he said.
“We’re at the point where every kid in the village wants to go to the school,” Charlene Bonner added. “So, we built ourselves a really awesome problem.”
She said once the addition is complete, the goal is to maintain a sustainable model for the charity and support the kids attending the school.
Find more information about Bendeshe’s Village here.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
