Turning Tragedy into Triumph
Jared Prescott shortly before going to serve the people of Madagascar
Keith & Trudy Prescott started The Jared Prescott Charitable Trust in honor of their son, Jared, who died unexpectedly while serving an LDS mission in Madagascar. After his funeral, friends & family gave them money. Rather than using it for themselves, they decided to use those donations to do good in ways that they knew Jared would appreciate.
Their son, Jared loved children, so it seemed only natural to do something for children in need for him. Keith & Trudy became aware of an orphanage near where Jared had been serving & they knew he would be overjoyed to aid those children, so that is exactly what they did.
When that project was finished the Prescotts became aware of other needs they had the ability to help with. They would help where they could. When friends & neighbors would find out about projects they were doing they would always ask to help. People would give them money and they would use it along side they own money to bless the lives of more people than they could have helped by themselves.
The copy machine that started it all
At a Christmas party in 2008 Keith began talking with his neighbor, Clarence Jones, about what Clarence had been up to for the last few years. During their discussion Clarence mentioned that he was trying to raise a few hundred dollars to purchase a copy machine for an organization in need in Myanmar. The Trust had the money, so Clarence & Keith bought the copy machine: a simple tool to help the people help themselves.
That copy machine was just the beginning...
To date, enough money has been donated to the trust to facilitate the building of 25 schools, 65 wells & much more. And they’re not done yet...
Although Jared died over 20 years ago, Keith & Trudy Prescott continue to utilize The Jared Prescott Charitable Trust as a vehicle to serve others wherever possible.
Today, donations are received from people around the world, but Trust still uses 100% of all donations to directly impact children & families across Myanmar: building schools, wells, latrines and through micro finance loans to small business owners.
The decision to bless the lives of others despite the loss of their 20 year old son, Jared has helped the Prescotts turn this tragedy into a triumph.
Many lives will never be the same...