Dr. O. Raye Adkins, author, entrepreneur and
founder of a charitable foundation, has come up
with a novel way to help children in poverty:
selling a product to raise money to help educate
children in Africa.
Her product: Moisture Drops lotion bars. Dr.
Adkins is marketing these luxurious
lavender/tea tree
scented bars in conjunction with Jordan
Essentials, the premier manufacturer of fine
bath and body products. Made from the finest
natural oils and butters in a solid form, they
are perfect for airline travelers who want to
avoid dry skin and getting delayed in
airport security.
Dr. Adkins is donating 90 percent of proceeds
from sales of the bars to support schools in
Africa through her charity, O Raphael. She
founded the nonprofit and her company OraMite
with the sole purpose of helping others,
particularly children in poverty who need help
getting a good education and kids who have lost
a parent. Dr. Adkins has also established the
Help The Bear Program to distribute cuddly
stuffed bears to children receiving care through
the Methodist Children's Home of Texas and
New Mexico.
Dr. Adkins worked more than 32 years in San
Antonio area public schools as a teacher,
administrator and elementary school principal.
Last year, she published Letters To My
Father: The Gifts, a memoir of the father
she never met. Her father died four months
before her birth on July 17, 1944. He was among
320 men killed. 275 of them African-Americans,
in the Port Chicago Naval Munitions base
explosion, the largest stateside military
disaster of World War II. Letters To My
Father: The Gifts illuminates this largely
forgotten chapter in our history and its impact
on families to this day.