The Young Living Foundation
In 2007, Gary and his wife Mary were living in Ecuador and setting up the Young Living Farm just outside of the city of Guayaquil. Every day when they drove to the farm, they noticed several children entering a run-down bessa brick building in the rural town of Chongon.
What he discovered inside that building were 42 school students, from the first to the sixth grade. These students were crammed into one tiny room, sharing limited supplies, sitting at broken tables while their volunteer teacher gave lessons on a damaged chalkboard. Built beside a dirt road and with open breezeways in the bessa bricks, clouds of dust floated into the classroom every time vehicles went past. The concrete floor was severely cracked, there were only rudimentary toilets for the children. Coming from very poor families, many of the children were lucky if they had one meal a day.
Gary and Mary formed a vision – to set up a charitable foundation, now called the D. Gary Young, Young Living Foundation.
In 2009 the new “Young Living Academy” opened its doors to 82 students. Soon that grew to 100 students, then 150, then 200. It continues to grow and expand, and now nearly 240 students attend the Academy, all the way up to year 12. Where most children in Ecuador drop out by the 8th Grade, the Young Living Academy has a 97% attendance rate, with many of the students planning post-graduate studies at college.
In March 2016, the Young Living Academy held its first graduation ceremony, with 12 students (100%) graduating. Every one of these students plans to attend college and pursue their dreams to become doctors, engineers and lawyers, or to work in fields such as business administration, medicine and tourism. This kind of graduation success would be an impressive rate for any school, however it’s particularly inspiring given that the local graduation average was less than 20% when the Academy started.
From this initial vision, the Young Living Foundation continues to receive ongoing and generous financial contributions from Young Living members across the globe, allowing it to venture into more and more “trouble spots” to lend a helping hand to those in need. Current projects include:
They give back to Nature, by planting aromatic plants and trees on our planet, and also to communities in need.
I’ve seen the old bessa brick school in Chongon, I’ve heard Gary talk about his vision for a Young Living Academy. I’ve visited the Academy and been overwhelmed at the scope of this project, and seen it come to fruition….and now I sponsor a child at the Academy (pictured here).
But even more impressive is the philosophy that underpins the Academy. Children are shown how to plant seeds, grow vegetables, and raise chickens. They learn to count by counting seeds. The many people who sponsor them send them gifts and encourage them in their dreams. Every child receives a good healthy meal each day at the Academy. The children’s parents are even invited to come and learn how to prepare nutritious food for their family.