A local high school student recently met her fundraising goal for education in Kenya. Grade 12 PCI student Hayley Bedard explains the $250 donation she received when she accepted the Young Woman of Excellence award at the Women's Ungala last week in Portage will be put to good use.

"I'm putting that into the project that I have been working on since I came back from Kenya. My goal originally was to send one student through high school. It's very expensive there because it is boarding school and a quality education. After I saw that it was going to be very difficult to fundraise for all four years especially while I'm going to school and working, I changed my goal a bit. Now I am sending forty students to primary school."

She explains even though she altered her original plan, she feels great knowing more than one student will benefit from her project.

"It's really nice. I know that I was aiming for $10,000 for the full four years of education for one student for high school. Being a student myself I knew that would be a really difficult task but I think it's just nice knowing I met a goal and that it will be helping more than one student. It will be helping forty."

Bedard explains it's amazing knowing so many children's lives can be changed thanks to a bit of hard work, and the generosity of those who helped meet her goal.