2015 Global Community Impact Award Finalist
Agape International Inc.
D.K. Brede Investment Management Company
Commonwealth Financial Network
Agape International, founded in 2003, houses, feeds, and educates orphans in Hyderabad, India who have lost their parents to AIDS. The Agape orphanage includes seven family-style homes and a school for 250 children, including many who were born with HIV. In addition to serving on the charity’s Board of Directors since its inception, Brede has identified key needs, raised funds, recruited volunteers and garnered supplies for Agape International’s orphanage. Since 2007, she has visited the orphanage annually with her dentist husband and a small dental team. On site, Brede cares for children and works on small construction projects, such as cutting and installing screens to keep out mosquitoes. Her gifts to Agape International have included a new school bus, a new van, two large screen TVs and a library of educational videos, 12 new computers and printers for vocational training, hundreds of books, clothing, substantial financial donations, and annual support for six children, including the commitment to send them to college in India. Brede’s efforts have significantly improved the health and employment prospects of the children. Not only has Agape developed a strong reputation for the quality care, education, and medical attention it provides, but it’s also one of the very few area organizations that will accept children living with HIV. More than a dozen students are working toward degrees in business, technology, accounting and engineering and dozens of students have graduated from high school or college.