LEWISTON – Carmen Wamukoya, a student at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College, was successful in securing a $5,000 grant from the Agnes M. Lindsay Trust for the YWCA of Central Maine. The grant will be used to help purchase a school bus for the transport of children in child care and summer camp.

“Carmen worked with the YWCA of Central Maine as part of her graduation requirements and spent several weeks with us learning about our local YWCA,” said YWCA Executive Director Anne Lee. “While with us, she researched and wrote five grants for various projects, including equipment for child care, the Girls on the Run Program, the purchase of a school bus and health and nutrition projects. We were delighted to receive the Agnes M. Lindsay Trust funding. This grant puts us closer to our goal of purchasing a safe vehicle for transporting children who attend the YWCA.”

Lee said Agnes Lindsay bequeathed her estate for the benefit of children and “for any charitable, educational or philanthropic purposes … having in mind my interest in the education of poor and deserving students from rural communities, my interest in the relief of suffering and my interest in child welfare”

Wamukoya, a resident of Eldoret in Kenya, recently graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a degree in social and behavioral science. She plans to return to Kenya this summer to work, then will return this fall to attend graduate school in Washington, D.C.

“One reason I wrote the grant for the YWCA is because there is very limited public transportation in L-A, and many low-income people have a hard time getting around,” said Wamukoya. “Writing this grant was one way of helping the YWCA get resources and also a way to give back to the community. I am glad that by writing the grant I will have an impact on the lives of other people.”