Exciting New Developments at ADSF

We hope you have been enjoying the success stories over the past several months of current students and those who have graduated from a college or university and now have careers. The latest story of Leon Hostetler that starts here is truly awe-inspiring because it is rare for someone to be raised Amish and to become a physicist (indeed he is the only one I’ve heard of so far). ADSF was there when Leon needed a nudge and a scholarship to get him started with a college education that led to the career he has been dreaming of since he was a young boy growing up in the mountains of Montana.

Stories like Leon’s inspire us to keep up our work of providing scholarships and mentorships to helps students live their dreams of earning a college education. I cannot think of a more rewarding volunteer job than this one at this time in my life, which is why I am pouring my heart and soul into this work. I am not alone in doing so. I am grateful to be working with Eythana Miller who is amazing in her creativity, skills, and dedication to this work. We are supported by our Board Members: Naomi Kramer, Freeman Miller, Harley Yoder, and John Yoder. Our team is enthusiastic about the work we do.

Today we take an interlude from the stories we have been bringing you to announce several developments at ADSF that we thought you might want to know about.

1. The Board made the decision several months ago to apply for 501c3 status. We are now officially a non-profit organization registered in the state of Indiana and the USA.

2. With our non-profit status, we are now able to accept online donations, which we mentioned in our last post. This is very exciting, and we hope it provides more convenience for donors and potential donors. You can visit our Donate page to add your contribution.

3. We have set up a blog notification system. We hope you will sign up to receive an email in your inbox when we publish a new blog post with the form in the sidebar of our blog and website. We will have many more inspiring stories to bring you.

4. We have an exciting event to let you know about. ADSF is organizing a conference in Middlebury, Indiana that will take place on June 26 and 27 at The Essenhaus and Conference Center. We will be open for registration within the next two weeks, but in the meantime, you can click over to our Events page to learn more about it, and we hope you will mark your calendars! All are welcome, and we look forward to seeing you there in June.

We continue to hear from prospective students in need of mentorships and scholarships, which leads us to believe that we will have even more applicants this year then we did last year. This is a sign that our outreach to potential and current students is effective.

We are concerned that we will be more successful in getting the word out to prospective students than we are with raising the funds we need to meet the need of our student applicants. It takes courage to ask for donations when we understand that most donors see more needs for causes they believe in than they have funds to contribute. And yet we ask because we know the importance of meeting the needs of our dedicated applicants.

When children born into an Amish community decide to leave and step out “into the world” as young adults, many of them feel like cultural refugees. They aren’t entering a new country, but the feelings of confusion and social isolation are as intense as if they had come from a distant land. Integrating into a new culture often takes years. Resilience and perseverance are vital if they are to find their way to college. Those of us who have walked this journey know what a struggle it is, and for this reason we endeavor to help those who are going through the struggle now.

We hope you will consider clicking over to our Donate page and adding your contribution to fund the academic futures of our worthy applicants.

Thank you for your generosity, and thank you for reading. May you be showered with blessings along the roads you travel.