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gyift logo

the gyift foundation

South African children excited about learning

mission

The GYIFT (Global Youth Initiatives for Transformation) Foundation is a 501(c)3 charitable organization founded on Christian precepts of generosity, loving one’s neighbor, and helping the most vulnerable in society.

The GYIFT Foundation provides supplemental, experiential education, and extracurricular activities for orphans and vulnerable children in marginalized communities. We currently operate in Southern California, South Africa, and Swaziland.

Through our initiatives we provide and/or distribute:

  • Clothing, shoes and toys
  • Educational and sports supplies (notebooks, stationery, balls, cones, whistles, pumps, etc.)
  • Educational materials and information regarding healthy living and personal hygiene
  • Extracurricular materials to promote arts and culture

We work with local authorities and select sponsors and donors to obtain needed supplies to support our programs. To identify recipients for these programs, we work with local and international distribution partners from church missionary initiatives, orphanages, schools, hospitals, women & children’s shelters, and community centers.

initiatives

Three unique initiatives support the GYIFT Foundation mission.

Quest Club

This program is aimed at providing fun and/or educational experiences for vulnerable children and/or children from low-income families who have endured hardship (i.e., cancer and other traumatic life challenges). We sponsor and provide tickets to theme parks, Children’s Museums, college visits, and sporting events (NBA, NFL, MLB, NCAA). The Quest Club is primarily for families in the United States.

Dream Catchers

The GYIFT Foundation offers interactive motivational school assemblies at United States based and international schools. Students are challenged to dream big, take action, and “be the change they want to see in the world.” Using a range of goal setting and visioning exercises, GYIFT Foundation facilitators help participants understand the correlation between actions and consequences as they work to catch their dreams.

In addition, the Dream Catchers program works with select schools to identify simple infrastructure needs and then helps with project planning and fundraising to meet those needs.

Re-Gift Program

We collect unclaimed clothing items from Lost & Found items at local schools. We also collect new or gently used clothing, shoes and toys from local communities. The Re-Gift Program operates locally and internationally, however our focus is primarily on distribution in Africa.

Myke Scholl speaking with a group of school children in South Africa
From left to right: Nelson Mandela, Myke Scholl, and Bill Clinton
Myke Scholl speaking with a group of children and adults in South Africa

inspiration

GYIFT Co-founder, Myke Scholl, was introduced to volunteerism and community service at an early age by his grandparents, Charlotte and Titus Scholl, who were extensively involved in social service endeavors throughout their lives. Inspired by the intrinsic joy and value of giving back to the community, Myke has devoted most of his adult life to elevating the lives of young people on a global scale.

While attending the University of Maryland School of Law, Myke observed the extreme poverty experienced by many children in the Baltimore area. As a two-term President of the Student Bar Association at the university, he convinced his fellow officers to devote the SBA annual budget to hands-on programs for homeless and near homeless children.

Myke moved to South Africa in 2000. One of his many endeavors while there was helping create and implement grassroots programs for loveLife, the internationally acclaimed HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention program. Funded by the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, loveLife was voted the most creative and innovative program of its kind in the world by the United Nations.

In addition, Myke’s wide-ranging work in Africa extended to helping child-soldiers in Uganda reintegrate with their communities; running life skills, motivation, and basketball programs in Uganda, Zambia and Kenya; and, working with UNICEF and local sport federations in Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland. Other youth support programs took him to Mozambique, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Angola, and Senegal.

It was in South Africa that Myke met and married his soulmate, Sheenagh Litchfield, who was born and raised in Swaziland. A mutual love of nature and adventure took them to many regions in Africa. In their extensive travels throughout the continent, Myke and Sheenagh experienced the beauty of the land but also witnessed the ravages of extreme poverty among many population groups, especially children.

Myke’s career trajectory brought him back to the United States in 2008. However, he and Sheenagh have kept a special place in their hearts for Africa and its people, especially the children. Myke’s brush with some very serious health issues over the past few years—including surviving cancer and, most recently, needing a kidney transplant (for which Sheenagh was the donor)—led to some major revelations about life priorities.

Myke and Sheenagh share a passion for volunteering and giving hope to those in need. They felt compelled to do more and together founded the GYIFT Foundation.

The GYIFT Foundation is dedicated to Charlotte and Titus Scholl.

A group of South African students outside their classrooms
Happy, smiling South African boy
Myke Scholl with one of his students from Africa at graduation from university

international

The GYIFT Foundation has two focus areas at the international level.

Current

We are currently working with Heart for Africa, an orphanage in Swaziland, through their Project Canaan Children program, which provides a safe haven for orphans and vulnerable children. Children's homes and schools have been and will continue to be built to provide for the ever-growing number of orphans being left in the wake of the AIDS pandemic.

Future

We are also in the initial stage of designing a five-year capital campaign to build The Swazi Children’s Exploration Center. This will be the first center of its kind in the Kingdom and it will be built on Swazi Nation Land.

The Swazi Children’s Exploration Center will be a public, interactive learning center that allows children to explore their world with hands-on activities in science, art, and technology. A combination of exhibits and classes will inspire imagination, creativity, and the wonder of learning.

Our Mission is to inspire curiosity while providing experiences that transform and enhance learning.

Our Vision is a world where children are inspired to think creatively, to confidently ask questions, and to understand—in greater depth—the world around them.

We Value a lifelong pursuit of learning, teaching, curiosity, inquiry, integrity, honesty, inclusion, sustainability, and respect for all cultures.

Our Concept is to create experiences that will help young people become active explorers on a quest for knowledge and information.

Features of The Swazi Children’s Exploration Center:

  • Multiple “explore for yourself” exhibits
  • Many hands-on, do-it-yourself project areas
  • An arts and crafts corner
  • Creative film and technology screenings
  • Classes and camps to enhance the learning process
  • Professional development programs for educators

directors

Find out more about our GYIFT Foundation Directors here. To quickly jump to an individual Director's biography just click on that Director's name.

Myke Scholl, JD

CEO  |  Long Beach, CA

Jason Tilton, MA

Chair  |  New York, NY

Luvuyo Mandela, BA

Vice Chair  |  Durban, South Africa

Caya Lewis Atkins, MPH

Vice Chair  |  Lusaka, Zambia

Ayodeji (Deji) Egbeyemi, MBA

Treasurer  |  Agoura Hills, CA

Sheenagh Scholl, BA

Co-Founder & Secretary  |  Long Beach, CA

Jamal Atkins, BA

Lusaka, Zambia