Riley Banks Snyder, www.GenerationNextCares.org, Click Here for Video & Podcast

admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 15:23:59 +0000

Riley Unlikely Shares the Journey of a Remarkable Teenager
Finding a Love for Kenyan Children and a Mission to Build a School
Grand Rapids, Mich., June 2016 — At the age of 13, Riley Banks-Snyder traveled to Kenya where she sat in a classroom full of first and second graders sharing a single pencil. The presents Riley was so excited to give the kids paled in importance to the school supplies that were easily accessible back home in Branson, MO. Riley realized these kids didn’t need matchbox cars or jump ropes. They needed pencils and paper.

As soon as her plane touched down in America, Riley knew she wanted to go back. At the age of 14, Riley started a non-profit, Generation Next, to help collect school supplies for Kenyan schools and returned the following year with 200 backpacks filled with donated supplies.

“I had no idea that God was going to use what happened at that school, with those kids, to begin weaving Africa into the fabric of my story,” says Riley. “God put a love for Kenyan children in my heart and gave me an impulse to want to help them.”

In Riley Unlikely: With Simple Child-Like Faith, Amazing Things Can Happen, Riley brings readers on her journeys to Kenya and the unexpected hardships and disappointments that showed Riley how to truly trust in God. From the first smells when her plane touches down to God planting the idea of opening a school in Kibwezi, Kenya, Riley shows the immense impact one life can have and encourages readers to find their own passions. Not everyone will be called to Kenya to build schools and community centers, but everyone can do something to make a profound difference.

From the very beginning, Riley had a vision that ordinary people can have extra ordinary impact, one life at a time. That dream carried her through several big twists and turns, but she always saw the beauty of God working in mysterious ways.

Riley’s focus turned to helping Kenyan orphans after she was diagnosed at 16 with a rare condition that left her unable to have biological children. She saw that even though she was not
-more-

able to have her own children, God had put hundreds of Kenyan children in her life to love and take care of.

Today, Riley is 19, and works full-time for her ministry and can be found at Riley’s Treasures, Generation Next’s thrift store and food pantry in Branson, when she is not in Kenya. Generation Next opened a school in Kibwezi, Kenya and in January bought a 7000 square foot building with five acres to use for a community center. They will teach women to sew, provide a feeding program, a safe house for kids and a sports complex for the kids to play on as well as farming. She and her new husband Graham plan to live part time in Kenya when Graham is finished with college. They will make their home at the community center, to oversee the day to day operations.

Riley Banks is the founder and executive director of Generation Next, a non-profit she established at the age of 14. Generation Next has built and oversees a school in Kibwezi, Kenya, and runs a thrift shop and food pantry in Branson, Missouri, to fund operations. Riley’s heart is for Africa and for reminding every young person that they can do more to change the world than they could ever imagine. She lives in Branson, MO with her husband Graham.

For more information visit: www.generationnextcares.org

Zondervan is a world leading Bible publisher and provider of Christian communications. Zondervan, part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., delivers transformational Christian experiences through its bestselling Bibles, books, curriculum, academic resources and digital products. The Company’s products are sold worldwide and translated into nearly 200 languages. Zondervan offices are located in Grand Rapids, Mich. For additional information, please visit www.zondervan.com.

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MISS LEAH LANE TO DEBUT AT THE INTERNATIONAL DEBUTANTE BALL

admin — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 14:12:18 +0000

Miss Leah Lane, daughter of Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley, of New York, will make her debut at The 60th International Debutante Ball on Monday, December 29th, in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.
Leah Lane is an actor and writer in New York City. She is currently a junior at the Horace Mann School and has taken advantage of the many opportunities that living in New York City has to offer. Leah was introduced to charity work at an early age, accompanying her parents to different events. Her book, “This Never Happens in the City”, a children’s pre-school book about a young girl who lives in the city and summers in the country, was published in 2004. All proceeds benefit the Child Development Center of the Hamptons (CDCH), a school for children with learning differences and physical disabilities. Her charity work has also taken her to different countries including Peru, Kenya, Vietnam and Cambodia working with organizations such as Habitat For Humanity, Project Clean Water, The Clean Stove Project and St. Vincent Maisha Bora Center for Orphans. Leah is happy that a portion of the proceeds from the International Debutante Ball are allocated to the Soldiers’, Sailors’, Marines’, Coast Guard and Airmen’s Club of New York because both of her grandfathers, James F. Comley and Leonard C. Lane, proudly served in the military.
Leah has written the book for the children’s musical, Moey’s Fairytale Adventure which was performed at the Dix Hills Performing Arts Center, and a one act play, Sister’s Only which was written and performed in the Sondheim’s Young Playwrights Urban Retreat at Off-Broadway’s Lucille Lortell Theater. Leah was in the chorus for several shows including Most Happy Fella, Tosca, Saint of Bleecker Street, La Boheme, and Turnadot, all of which were produced at Dicapo Opera Theatre. She was one of the original cast members of Freckleface Strawberry and was in the Children’s chorus of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Rusalka, starring Renee Fleming. She has also sung in the children’s chorus for the New York Pops and Lincoln Center.
Miss Leah Lane’s father, Stewart F. Lane, is a six-time Tony award and an Olivier award-winning producer. He has received numerous philanthropic and industry awards. Mr. Lane is co-owner and operator of the Palace Theatre with the Nederlander Organization and a partner in the Tribeca Grill with Robert De Niro. Leah’s mother, Bonnie Comley, is a three-time Tony winning producer of both theater and film. She has received an Olivier award, two Drama Desk awards, and many others for her work as a theater producer. Ms. Comley currently sits on the board of The Drama League, Emerson College, and The Theatre Museum. She has created scholarships funds at Columbia University Business Graduate School and at the Boston University College of Fine Arts Undergraduate School where a theater is named in her honor. She is also major supporter of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where another theater is named in her honor, and at Emerson College where the Musical Theater Society Room bears her name. She is also on the Advisory Board of The City College Center for the Arts in New York City.
For her debut, Miss Leah Lane has chosen to wear an Oleg Cassini gown. The strapless ball gown features hand embroidered polished crystal beading intricately designed on Venise lace appliqués for the dramatic corset bodice narrowed to the waist. The opulent floor length skirt billows out to multi-tiers of layer upon layer of sheer organza.
The International Debutante Ball, founded in 1954, is considered one of the most prestigious debutante presentations. Young women of distinction from all over the country and around the globe are brought together at the ball and the surrounding parties with daughters of Diplomats, titled Europeans, Ambassadors, Governors and Presidents of the United States. Over the years the ball has benefited numerous charities from the International Debutante Ball Foundation, the primary one being the Soldiers’, Sailors’, Marines’, Coast Guard and Airmen’s Club of New York, which provides a home away from home for men and women of our Armed Services.

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Riley Banks Snyder, www.GenerationNextCares.org, Click Here for Video & Podcast

MISS LEAH LANE TO DEBUT AT THE INTERNATIONAL DEBUTANTE BALL