In 2002, a Kenyan woman named Helen Makani visited an elderly woman from her church who lived in the slums of Western Kitale: Kipsongo. Weak and frail from starvation, Helen brought the woman food. As Helen left the woman's home she was amazed to find 50 children waiting outside. They all had hoped she’d have food left for them. She didn’t. But she urged them to wait and Helen quickly drove into town to buy some bread and juice. When she returned the number had tripled. Over 150 starving kids who Helen described as visibly grateful for her return. Somehow, without any trouble, they took the bread and were able to share it amongst themselves until they were all fed. Helen and her husband, Richard, started sacrificing meals in their own home and bringing food to the children of the slum once a month. Eventually, Helen and Richard were able to pool resources from their community and deliver food once a week. Today, Helen and Richard's dear friend, Rebecca, and a staff of about 25 run a school (The Seeds Academy) and an attached feeding center adjacent to the slum. 302 children from the slum (and even some children from the city) are fed twice a day/six days a week. The school cares for grades pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade.

Richard and Helen are the directors of an orphanage on a farm in Kitale. The orphanage is home to 70 children; a small staff; cattle and chickens; bananas, kale, tomatoes and other fruits and veggies; and two tilapia ponds. The hope is that someday they could not only raise all their own food, but have access to their own clean water. The children at the orphanage are transported two and from the school each day. As Richard and Helen find orphans or children in truly desperate situations in the slum, they are pulled out and brought to the orphanage. In other cases, children are supported financially from people around the world. Richard and Helen are able to use the charitable donations to keep the kids safe in the orphanage and give them an education at The Seeds Academy.