Kim Harms
Kim Harms lost her son Eric 11 years ago. While at lunch with BFA Board Member Pam Pappas Stanoch, they decided to sponsor a memorial library in her late son's memory. Before the books were to be delivered, Kim got to visit Rwanda and fell in love with the country. With Books For Africa, she has helped send 160,000 books to 33 libraries!
Kim began her first container project with a fundraiser. She and her husband financed much of the first shipment until her husband's retirement from practicing as a dentist, and now they are back to fundraising.
Fundraising is the hardest part for Kim, since it can be difficult to ask others for help. She found that the strategy that worked best for her was finding groups that are interested in Rwanda, and having those groups help fundraise for specific projects.
Since the book famine is still going on, Kim is still hard at work! She's travelling back to Rwanda to visit some of the libraries in 2020, and is combining her next container with an Oral Health Summit for 2022. She's also working with a dental school in Rwanda to bring more speakers and books to Rwanda in 2022.
Kim can be reached at drkim@pinelakelawfim.com.