The Kymberlee Lawton Foundation (TKLF) is a loving memoriam of Kymberlee Lawton, honoring her faith, her christian values and her unconditional love for children.

 

2011 - Soon after the passing of my beloved wife, Kymberlee, my two sons and I went to Maranatha Dominican Republic on a 2008 mission trip with our church.  The mission was to help build a school for the Maranatha community.  That was my first time in the Dominican Republic. It was the first opportunity for me to understand the steep challenges of its people, especially the children.  Nourishment, education and other basic necessities do not come easy.  When food is portioned, children receive very little and often times go hungry.  The economy has hurt the Dominican people in many ways, reducing the number of ways for them to find honest employment and outside aid has also fallen significantly. The Dominican Republic also has one of the worst child education records in the world and with no local support from the government, caring community members must rely on outside help.

During the 2008 mission trip, I met Mr Adames Jimenez (Fabio).  A clearly compassionate man that had an immediate and lasting impact on me.  It was clear to me that there was a real opportunity to help and that I wanted to return as soon as I could.

Two years later, my two sons and I returned to the DR leaving my job and life in the United States.  Two weeks later after getting settled, we went to Maranatha to find Fabio.  It was a special reunion.

A few weeks later Fabio and his family were at my home and we were discussing his community challenges.  It was very clear to see Fabio’s passion, it inspired me.  After many months of discussion and development, we both knew that the most impactful program for the community would be education. 

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2019 - We are moving to a research based mission.  In Jan 2020 we will begin a new program to test children and parents of impoverished communities for sustainability defined by decreasing-reliance on outside donors.  See the news pages for progress.