Global Care Unlimited Receives a ‘Magic’ Hand

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“I believe strongly that every human being has dignity that should be respected and potential that should be promoted.”

-Mark Hyman, school teacher, human rights activist, and founder of Global Care Unlimited

On Sunday, Jan 24th, Global Care Unlimited Inc., (GCU) held a fund raiser to benefit construction of The Ethio-American Friendship School (EAFS) in Awassa, Ethiopia – with special guest Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson.

The two part event included Family Fun at the Tenafly High School Gym from 3:00-6:00 p.m. and a Benefit Dinner at The Clinton Inn from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Family Fun featured savory Ethiopian dishes, complete with buna (Ethiopian coffee), raffles, games and prizes, and live performances by Ethiopian artists who showcased cultural dances and entertained the crowd. There was also a basketball competition between students and faculty where Johnson coached students. Later, at the Benefit Dinner, the biggest surprise of all came when Johnson made a donation to GCU and raffled off seven Lakers tickets.

Mark Hyman, founder of GCU, “was elated” with Sunday’s events – where the turnout was at capacity in both sites. “Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson was inspirational and touched everyone. His incredible generosity of time, energy and funds ensured that Global Care will be able to sponsor construction of a 6-room high school wing at our Ethiopian sister school, The Ethio-American Friendship School.”

Founded by Mr. Hyman in 2000, GCU is a non-profit, charitable organization which seeks to nurture global citizenship in youth. “I believe strongly that every human being has dignity that should be respected and potential that should be promoted.” In 1999 he organized a Human Rights event at Tenafly Middle School, where he teaches, and raised student and community awareness about global problems occurring locally and around the world. “After this event I founded Global Care Unlimited as a vehicle for nurturing global citizenship practice in youth through their participation in global humanitarian initiatives.”

Since 2007, students of GCU have worked tremendously to raise funds to sponsor the construction of 12 classrooms in grades Pre-K through Grade 8. Now, with the help of Johnson, GCU students raised enough funds to construct more classrooms through Grades 9 through 10 and complete the school.

With Johnson’s assistance and the Global Care communities of Tenafly and Demarest, Global Care Unlimited netted $65,000. One-tenth of proceeds will be donated to Doctors Without Borders for Haitian disaster relief and the remaining funds will sponsor construction of a 6-room high school wing at EAFS. Construction is set to begin immediately.

For more information, visit www.globalcareunlimited.org.