August 2015 Recap

Since June 16, 2015, the members of the Wellshire Microfinance team have made 124 loans. In June, we had made 1,492 loans with a total amount lent of $38,925. Today we sit at 1,616 loans and $42,450 lent. Wow! That's a lot of dollars going out and coming back in. Our percentages are pretty consistent: 57% women, 43% men. We have lent to 65 of 83 countries, with the highest percentage going to Kenya, Uganda, Philippines, El Salvador, and Peru.

Katy has taken over the management of the Club 45 account.

At our last meeting, we took note of the APR some of the field partners are charging the borrowers. We will continue to discuss if we want to lend through these field partners. They lend to some of the most vulnerable people on the planet and so their expenses are high. It's hard to ignore the need of the borrowers even though it pains us to see them paying such high interest rates.

Our next meeting will be noon on September 17 at Wellshire. Hope to see you there. As always, feel free to e-mail in your loan suggestions. Maybe we could try and find a loan or two to countries we haven't lent to before. I know it's hard, there often aren't any.

July 2015 Recap

We had a very productive meeting on July 23. We had $372 to reinvest, and after learning we had $1,225 in the restricted fund, we decided it was time to add some new money to our loans. We dipped into the restricted fund for an additional $400 and used the remaining two $25 gift cards, funding 17 loans in 12 different countries. We discussed making our standard loan amount $50 since we are adding more money to the pool. Some loans which are less secure in their payback will still be for $25.

The group learned that some of the field partners seem to charge an exorbitant fee to the borrowers which we had not noticed before. Katy will be sending an e-mail to Kiva to find out more about this.

Our next scheduled meeting is Thursday, Sept 17 at noon at Wellshire.

May 2015 Update

On May 21, we did a virtual meeting and funded 12 loans. One was immediately refunded because the loan window ran out, and one is in danger of expiring tomorrow. We are a little off the pace of last year's lending. In all of 2014 we loaned $13,725. As of right now, we have loaned $5,225.  In the month of May, we made a total of 25 loans; for the month of June, we have made one.

A meeting is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, July 23 -- save the date.

January Wellshire Microfinance Recap

The Wellshire Microfinance Committee met on January 15 and invested in 16 new loans. We made 12 loans out of loan paybacks and used four gift cards to add new funds to our account. In total, the Wellshire Kiva group made 56 loans in January (as of January 28). We welcomed a visitor, Joan Wells, to our meeting and we hope she'll return for future meetings.

Happy New Year!

The Christmas season is over, and a new year of opportunity is here. The microfinance committee did not meet in December, but our members made 31 loans for $790 on their own. The Wellshire lending team now stands at 1296 loans totaling $33,750.

We still have $25 gift cards if anyone would like to purchase one to give as a gift. Katy Fink-Johnson gave some out at Christmas and the response has been terrific.

Our next committee meeting will be Thursday, January 15 at noon. We will have approximately $400 in loan paybacks to reinvest, and we'll look at adding some more from the restricted fund.

Giving Thanks by Giving Back!

November was a terrific month for our Kiva faithful. A small group of us met on November 20 and distributed $450 into 17 new loans, all from loan payback money. We made one loan to a person in Nicaragua that we are going to track over the next few months to see what happens with it. The situation on the ground in Nicaragua is somewhat unfavorable for Kiva loans, but recent passing of laws may help stabilize things. Meanwhile, on their own, individual team members were busy! We currently stand at 1,265 loans totaling $32,900. We have already surpassed the loan totals for 2013. I'm excited to see where we end up for 2014!

$25 gift cards are still available for purchase. Just let Katy Fink-Johnson know if you would like to buy one.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, January 15 at noon at Wellshire Church.

Our Fourth Year Is Starting Out Strong!

The Wellshire Microfinance Committee did not meet in October, but that doesn't mean our members haven't been busy! Since the end of September, WMF team members have made 42 loans for $1,050 on the Kiva website. I am so thankful for this group of dedicated individuals who continue to feel moved to help people around the world build a better life for themselves.

We will meet on Thursday, November 20 at noon at Wellshire and redistribute funds from loan paybacks to invest in new loans. We currently have $314 in loan paybacks, which I expect will increase a bit by the time we meet. If you cannot attend the meeting on November 20, please stop by our table at the Alternative Christmas Market on Sunday, November 23.

If you are interested in learning more about Kiva and the Microfinance Committee, or perhaps joining the team, please contact Katy Fink-Johnson at kafink@presby.edu, 720-488-8706.