Our Mission...

Our mission is to make a positive and exciting contribution in the lives of single mothers working to further their educations.  Smile2Educate is committed to provide financial assistance through scholarships, along with additional avenues of support and encouragement, in the quest to improve life for single mothers and their children.

Our beginning...

 

This past summer my husband John and I participated in a charity event called “Shadow Woodstock”.  We own a pizza shop, and were asked to be one of the food vendors that they were lining up for the event.  We decided since the event was charity driven part of our proceeds should go toward a charity - but which charity?  As we pondered the endless possibilities, one social issue stood out from all the others – single motherhood. 

 As a student at Hiram Weekend College, I have met many women who are single mothers working towards better lives for themselves and their children.  Each of these women has a story to tell.  It is easy to see the dedication and hard work it takes for each woman to succeed at furthering her education while balancing the responsibilities of working, getting the kids to and from their extra activities, helping with homework as well as completing her own homework and all the other tasks that come along with being a single mom.  Our conclusion: what an incredible group of individuals that could use a helping hand!  Locally, we were unable to find an existing fund to meet the purposes we intended, so we decided to create one.  Hence, the concept of SMILE (Single Moms Improving Life thru Education) was born on August 4, 2007.