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HUNTINGTON UNIV MAGAZINE

Student raises funds for orphanage with necklaces

FOR RELEASE March 17, 2009

Ben Swartz holds necklaces he created.

Huntington, Ind.—Huntington University freshman Ben Swartz is selling necklaces to raise money for orphanages overseas.

“I have known since I was 16 that God was calling me to care for the orphans,” said Swartz, a freshman nursing major from Botkins, Ohio.

Swartz said he had been praying for some time for a way to raise money for this cause. Then one day someone showed him how to make the necklaces he currently sells. He started wearing them, and when others expressed interest in the necklaces, he decided to sell them as a way to raise money for orphanages.

Sample necklaces Ben Swartz created

The funds raised from approximately 200 necklaces were given to CKS Ministries, an organization building an orphanage in Kenya, Africa, and started by C. Kevin and Cheri Singer, a couple who attend Swartz’s church.

“I've been able to converse, meet and befriend so many awesome people who are feeding and caring for orphans and the least of society,” Swartz said. “I know that the money that we have given to the orphanage being built in Kenya will affect kids’ lives that we may never meet, and it is hard to grasp the affect that the money will have.

“I know that this has affected my life so much. Just to see the amount of people who believe in the dream that God has placed in my heart is incredible. Our next step is to create a non-profit, and it is cool to see how God provides now even before we are a non-profit.”

Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S.News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest. Founded in 1897 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Huntington University is located on a contemporary, lakeside campus in northeast Indiana. The University is a member of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU).

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