S.T.E.P. MISSION STATEMENT
Schools To End Poverty, sponsored by the Spring Valley Rotary Club, recognizes children as our most precious resource and the planet's future leaders. Our primary mission is to provide children around the world with an opportunity to obtain an education. To achieve this goal, we will assist in building schools, help provide basic school supplies and classroom aids, ensure a safe and clean school environment, and provide clean drinking water for students while at school.
We shall offer grants and scholarships to orphans, street kids, and the less fortunate, thus enabling each child to become a productive member of society.
OUR STORY
In 2005, combat Vietnam Veterans and Rotarians Ed Frank and Howard Goldin returned to Vietnam to view the country we left behind 30-plus years ago. We found families living on $1.00 a day. We saw at-risk children working in the sex trade industry to survive. Our response to what we saw will be our legacy:
S.T.E.P., Schools To End Poverty.
Then and Now
Howard Goldin Then
Eddie Frank Then
Howard and Eddie Now
On November 18, 2021, Howard Goldin and Eddie Frank, co-founders received the Rotary District 7210 Tansukh Dorawala Humanitarian Award on behalf of all the children that they assist. Through the Ward/Periono Family Grant, they were able to complete three more important projects. They purchased four Smart Boards for the Rose School, satisfied the $96,000 mortgage for the Te-Phan Orphanage that houses more than 89 children, and funded the building of a new school for the K'Hoe Tribe in Lam Dong Province.
Co-Founders Howard Goldin and Eddie Frank spoke on CBS News about their personal mission for S.T.E.P.
Education is the Most Powerful Weapon We Can Use to Change the World
2025 marks the 20th anniversary of our band of brothers and sisters returning to Vietnam. Over the last twenty years, hundreds of people have returned, with some individuals making multiple visits. It has and always will be a journey, and we thank you for being part of our past, current, and future. We have lost eighteen of our dear friends. They may not be here today, but their memory lives on in so many of us and the children whose lives they have touched. Our youngest traveler was 13, and our oldest (youngster) was 83.
Our legacy will include five buildings constructed in Vietnam, one in Honduras, one in Jamaica, and our Ghana water project. About 1,100 children are educated every year because we S.T.E.P.ed out of our comfort zone. About 36 children receive a free education each year because one of our travelers had the idea to start a scholarship program. We have hand-carried more than 7 tons of supplies, as many of you are well aware of having carried them. We continue to support the Te-Phan Don Boscoe orphanage and the 89 residents that rely on us, having paid off their $96,000 mortgage. We have given out over 390 wheelchairs to the second and third generations of children exposed to Agent Orange, and let us not forget the hundreds of bikes given to at-risk children.
As of 2024, we have completed our 4th project in Vietnam, adding an extension to the Rose School for 700 Montagnard children, and funded the construction of the K'hoe Tribe Preschool for 50 young children.
Education is the Most Powerful Weapon We Can Use to Change the World.
Nelson Mandela
Congratulations to Our Co-founders for Receiving the Outstanding Volunteers of the Year Award with STEP
