Reach One Million Campaign

Actor Isaiah Washington’s (“Grey’s Anatomy”) Gondobay Manga Foundation, is pleased to announce that since the launch of its ‘Reach One Million’ Campaign’ on August 3, Washington’s 45th birthday, the campaign has raised nearly $20k, including a $10k donation from New Orleans Saints defensive end Bobby McCray and a $5k donation from legendary recording artist Stevie Wonder’s Los Angeles based radio station Radio Free KJLH 102.3. McCray and Wonder’s donations will allow for the erection of water wells in the rural village of Njala Kendema in the Bo Region of Sierra Leone, West Africa, where 47% of the country’s children under the age of 5 are afflicted with malaria and 28% percent of the population are unable to meet basic food requirements. Joining McCray and Wonder in supporting Isaiah’s efforts is retired Indiana Pacer Reggie Miller and celebrity attorney Blair Berk. In addition to these donations, the campaign has raised an impressive amount of money via its website www.reachonemillion.org.

The ‘Reach One Million’ campaign is a national campaign spearheaded through Washington’s non-profit organization The Gondobay Manga Foundation. The campaign’s goal is to raise $250,000 before the end of the year to help improve the lives of one million children in Sierra Leone—one village, one region, at a time.

The campaign calls for donations in the amount of $5 to $5000 to help reach one million children in Sierra Leone to aid in providing food, education, protection from malaria, and clean drinking water.

The ‘Reach One Million’ campaign comes on the heels of Washington discovering his genetic link to the Mende people of Sierra Leone. After his initial visit to Sierra Leone in 2006 where he saw first hand the extreme poverty and the needs of the children of Sierra Leone, he made a pledge to do more to help the country. One year later in 2007, Washington opened the Chief Foday Golia Memorial School near the village of Njala Kendema in the Bagbwe Chiefdom. Currently, there are 300 students out of a total population of 2,150 from six villages in the Chiefdom attending class everyday.

Later this year, Washington will travel back to Sierra Leone where he will receive dual citizenship from the Sierra Leonean government.