Nashville Aquatic Club swimmers dramatically impacted a poor rural community half way across the world.

Throughout the month of December 2017, NAC swimmers participated with the nonprofit Project R12 in what is called the Christmas Campaign; where the swimmers donated their own pennies and dollars to raise money to buy sustainable Christmas gifts for poor families in rural Uganda. These families have never received Christmas gifts before! By the end of the month the athletes had brought in over $1,000!! Some of the gifts that NAC swimmers chose were goats, hundreds of pounds of seeds, a mattress set, and school supplies! The impact was massive.

Here is a response from the founder and president of ProjectR12 –

Thank you so much for being such a big part of our 2017 Christmas Giving Campaign. With your help, we were able to reach over 1,000 people across 3 different villages in Uganda who have never received a Christmas gift before. There were hundreds of children and families who were so blessed by your kindness. This type of giving is very unusual in the communities we were in – people were deeply touched and many left in tears with the gifts they have been given. 

The impact goes far beyond just the gift – many people felt loved and cared for the first time in their lives. As you know there were so many gifts to choose from, each one held a weight of its own. Here are a few highlights: there are literally hundreds acres of farms being planted now, young single mothers given a sewing machine to provide for their family, roughly over 2,500 classes WILL NOT be missed by girls because of lack of sanitary pads, children are sleeping safely and comfortably for the first time, teddy bears being hugged, soccer balls being kicked, children not being chased out of school because of lack of school supplies, and a beautiful mature cow that will provide milk for so many….the list goes on.  

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity this past Christmas. You’ve unlocked life thousands of miles away in rural Central Uganda.

Great job NAC swimmers!