Keep a Child Alive

The seed of Keep a Child Alive was sown in Kenya in 2002. Royalties from Leigh Blake’s previous fundraiser, Red Hot & Blue, built the AIDS Research and Family Care Clinic in Mombasa. A woman named Anne walked in to the clinic, desperate to obtain the anti-retroviral drugs her three-year-old son Brine needed to survive. At the time the medication’s high cost was an impossible dream for most Africans to afford, and Leigh was so moved by this woman and her courage that she decided to pay for them.

Word of the children’s desperate need for medication spread among Leigh’s friends and colleagues, and soon they were offering to do the same. KCA Board Member Peter Edge became its first donor, and soon Alicia Keys passion for the issue drove her to become its first Global Ambassador.

What started as a very personal incident between two mothers has become a tremendous initiative for change. With over 4000 children and family members on ARV treatment, over 250,000 people under our care, three orphanages receiving funding, and major clinic sites in expansion, Keep a Child Alive is making a direct impact in the lives of so many who need help.