The Joy of Connection: How the Giving Challenge Sparked Global Friendships

by Debi Frock, Executive Director, Ghanaian Mothers’ Hope

Nothing is more rewarding than seeing joy and excitement spread across a child’s face. Thanks to the 2024 Giving Challenge, I watched that joy ripple across more than 160 faces this year. Through the Ghanaian Mothers’ Hope Cultural Book Exchange, children from Alta Vista Elementary in Sarasota County and the Level Up 360 Youth Program in Manatee County connected with children in Ghana, West Africa—and their worlds grew bigger in the most beautiful way.

Our Cultural Book Exchange takes students on a virtual journey across the Atlantic. Together, they read The Ghanaian Goldilocks by Tamara Pizzoli to discover Ghanaian words and traditions, write letters to new friends, receive heartfelt replies, and finally meet face-to-face in a video chat. What begins as a storybook adventure becomes an opportunity to celebrate culture, recognize differences, and discover just how much we share in common.

For six years, Alta Vista—a Title I school—has embraced this program. Teachers have enriched the experience with cooking Ghanaian dishes like fufu, showing online videos, and sparking lively discussions about uniforms, hairstyles, and school life in Ghana. With large classroom screens, students can clearly see their new friends across the world, making the connections feel real and lasting.

This year, we expanded to Manatee County through a new partnership with the Level Up 360 Youth Program in Rubonia. Founder James McCloud, passionate about creating opportunities for local youth, invited us to bring the exchange into his summer program. The challenge? His students ranged from ages 5 to 15. We split into two groups: younger children read F is for Fufu and older students read The Ghanaian Goldilocks. Later, the older students proudly read the story aloud to the younger ones—a confidence-building moment for many. Together, we made drums out of solo cups and balloons, wrote letters to new Ghanaian friends, and prepared for something extraordinary.

In early August, I carried those letters with me to Akramaman, a rural Ghanaian village of about 50 families. There, in a preschool library, 18 children gathered around a 13-inch laptop to video chat with their new friends in Rubonia, who tuned in on a single phone. The setup was modest compared to Alta Vista’s, but in many ways, it felt more authentic. As each Florida child stepped in front of the camera, their eyes lit up—windows of hope, joy, and wonder—mirrored by the children in Ghana.

This is the power of connection. This is the impact of the Giving Challenge.

Thank you to the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and The Patterson Foundation for helping us spread global awareness, inspire empathy, and nurture the next generation of leaders.