How this all got started!

Hi friends,

I am Kelsey, and my husband is Tony. We founded the Kelston Foundation in 2024 after I took my first mission trip to Kenya, where I participated in prison ministry and widow outreach. During that time, I helped build homes and provide beds and food for widows and women living within the prison system. Yet amid those efforts, my heart broke for the children left behind in circumstances they did not create—children trapped in a relentless cycle of poverty with little hope of escape.

One of the most critical barriers facing the younger generation is access to education. In Kenya, education is often the key to breaking free from generational poverty. Unfortunately, many families simply cannot afford the school fees required for attendance. Others struggle to provide even basic meals, leaving children to go entire days—sometimes from morning to morning—with nothing but water.

Children cannot effectively learn under such conditions, and we have witnessed this reality firsthand. During visits to local schools, we noticed several students asleep at their desks, only to learn that those children had consumed nothing all day except water.

I shared with Tony the story of a young man named Henry, who was preparing to enter his final year of high school when his father became seriously ill and could no longer work. Without income, the family could no longer afford Henry’s school fees. Henry dreamed of becoming an engineer so he could provide for his family and break the generational chains of poverty. Yet without completing high school, university would remain out of reach, and so would the future he had worked so diligently toward.

Henry’s story deeply moved Tony and brought him to tears. From an early age, Tony was taught the transformative value of education. He comes from a family in which several members have earned master’s degrees, and he understood immediately how life-changing an education can be.

As we reflected on the realities these children face, we realized that many never truly have a chance. Their environments are not structured for success. Often, all they need is someone willing to stand in the gap—to help them remain in school, stay encouraged, and continue pursuing their future.

Together with a few others, we decided to pay Henry’s school fees for his final year of high school and support him through his first year of university as he pursued engineering. Today, he is still faithfully studying.

Helping that first student sparked a dream in Tony’s heart: to establish a scholarship foundation dedicated to helping as many children as possible remain in school and pursue the futures they deserve.

Nine months after I returned from Kenya for the first time, Tony and I packed our bags and traveled together to Oyugis, Kenya. I had promised the people in the village that I would return with my husband, and when we arrived, they were overwhelmed with joy that I had kept my word. It was a beautiful welcome—or “Karibu,” as they say in Swahili.

We immediately began meeting with principals and school administrators from several local schools to better understand how many vulnerable children were at risk of losing access to education. Many students were either unable to attend or had already been sent home because of unpaid school fees, torn uniforms, or improper shoes. It was striking to see that even within communities living far below the poverty line, school uniforms were mandatory and tuition fees were still required for attendance.

Through these experiences, our mission became even clearer. The need is immense, but so is the potential within these children. With opportunity, encouragement, and support, their lives can be transformed for generations to come.

We are deeply grateful for every person who has supported, prayed for, and shown interest in the Kelston Foundation. Your encouragement and generosity make it possible for children like Henry to continue pursuing education and hope for a brighter future. Thank you for believing in this mission and for standing with us as we work to create lasting change, one child at a time.