Written by Marcella Senti (Co-founder, GRO)
At 7:30 am on a gray Tuesday morning, I sit with a cup of coffee opposite Steve Hamer. We are seated at his dining room table; one half is piled with photos, documents, and email scans, while the other is empty except for my notebook and a copy of the Catholic Herald, opened to an article recently published about a local nonprofit seeking to drill borehole wells for communities in Malawi, Africa. The interesting thing about this scene is, despite its occurrence this past April, it could have emerged nearly the same almost 11 years ago.
I have known Steve Hamer – ‘Papa Steve’ – for a long time, and am no stranger to having a riveting conversation over his dining room table. He is the grandfather of my best friend, Bridget Bullard, who – along with myself, Mary Madigan, Jordyn Schipper, Courtney Yang, and Asha Edgerle – is one of the founding members of Girls Reaching Out (GRO). Formed in 2013, when we were just middle schoolers (under the mentorship of Bridget’s mother Shannon Bullard and my mother, Susan Senti), GRO aimed to make sustainable change in the lives of others on a large scale. Now, Bridget serves on the Board of Directors for Wash For Life, a 501c3 that Steve Hamer founded to continue engagement with the communities of Malawi, and I have come to speak with him about the developments – and major ones at that.
When GRO was created, we were a small group of girls from a small home town who wanted to make a difference. It was our very good fortune to be connected with the right people along the course of our journey, which started with Lakeland University. What spurred our interest in clean water advocacy was a meeting with teachers from Malawi who had come to Lakeland to study; during their time in Wisconsin, they were kind enough to meet with us and discuss the issues troubling their home country. Drought, logging, rampant diseases, and a lack of school resources (including teachers and lunchtime meals) were major concerns that all contributed to a significant lack of basic clean drinking water. Girls our own age were traveling multiple miles every morning and missing school in order to retrieve polluted water. Despite the fact that this issue seemed out of reach for a few middle schoolers to impact, we were deeply inspired by the friendship and warmth of the teachers we had met. It was this friendship that truly kickstarted GRO’s drive to fundraise for borehole wells, which provide clean, sustainable drinking water to communities and schools.
Today, it is still that friendship that has continued the journey of GRO and opened up new opportunities. When the original GRO girls graduated from high school – amidst the COVID-19 pandemic – we were concerned about how the mission of GRO would continue as we went our separate ways. And there was a lull, for a short period, as the world paused. We were lucky, however, that in our last few years of high school, Papa Steve took an increasingly growing interest in our relationship with Malawi. So much so, in fact, that he has decidedly taken up raising awareness and fundraising for wells in avenues outside of GRO. Alongside a new generation of GRO Girls, who will graduate high school in 2026, they have partnered to grow the mission.
And grow it has. In 2020, GRO had funded 16 wells in 7 years with the help of Lakeland University’s 501c3 in order to operate as a nonprofit. Now, in 2024, the new GRO Girls have funded 6 boreholes so far, with the “Wash For Life” (W4L) 501c3 allowing for tax-deductible donations. This, however, is not the end of the partnerships – out of Papa Steve’s love for the mission has come three more operating branches: Starfish Brothers (Steve and his brother Jack’s foundation), the Starfish Foundation (led by Steve’s grandson Dillon out of St. John’s Northwestern Academies), and the Starfish Family (led by Paul Treffort and his daughter Emily). The idea behind these foundations and the name comes from the idea that even though you cannot fix everything or help everyone, the lives you do touch leave a lasting impact. Along with GRO, these branches of Starfish with W4L have collectively funded 12 wells, accounting for a cumulative 34 boreholes and $255,000 raised to date. Each borehole affects on average 500 kids, their communities, and their schools – 17,000 students in total.
Recently, I had the honor of attending a GRO presentation at the Sheboygan Senior Community to hear about current projects. Members of the Starfish Foundation and Wash for Life were also there to present on their upcoming trip to Malawi this June. This will be the third trip to Malawi since 2019, when Papa Steve and then-Rotary President Deb Wente visited existing wells for the first time. During this trip, they were guided by our dear friend and business liaison Patrick Tembwe, one of the original teachers we met at Lakeland. Since 2013, he has been our contact on the ground in Malawi and the director of borehole operations. In 2023, another trip landed in Malawi to meet Patrick and visit more wells, and the same agenda is set for this summer. The group visiting will be able to see sites of new and existing wells, visit with the communities, and speak with teachers and community leaders about needs and impact – including Patrick’s son Timothy, “The Voice of Malawi”, who promotes awareness about clean water, interviews students at GRO borehole schools, and does special marketing for donors. The presentations were full of information about Malawi, the borehole process, and the progress of these friendships between GRO, Wash for Life, the Starfish Programs, and the people of Malawi. Although I worried at the end of high school that GRO may not be taken up by a new generation, I am happy to report that the mission lives on in full force.
The article on the table at Papa Steve’s house that Tuesday morning was a critical part of our conversation. To everyone involved, there is a unanimous consensus that the mission is based on faith and integrity, as well as the strange serendipity of second chances. Papa Steve tells me the article in the Catholic Herald was seen by a woman from West Allis named Linda, who after reading it, emailed the 10th graders (GRO 2026) to find out what she could do to help the cause. She was so struck by how young people were reaching out, she decided to donate $15,000 recently inherited from an estate – money which she made a personal commitment to help others with. Her donation effectively funded 2 wells in Kapiri, a larger Malawian community. Those wells now help schools continue to operate, keep teachers in their positions, allow girls to attend more classes, and provide safe drinking water for cooking, bathing, cleaning, and drinking. Papa Steve tells me this story with a soft gleam in his eye, and I cannot help but share the sentiment of learning how powerful just one person’s actions can be, and just how far simple things can reach. Who knew, when the article was published, that it would be read by Linda and now two more wells have been drilled?
As I take in these stories, I can’t help but think of how GRO started. With no true background or experience in fundraising or non-profit work, it was simply an act of hope that we could be one group of young people reaching out to other groups of young people. Our first step was to make connections – presenting to corporations and cold calling and walking door-to-door, learning the process of impact along the way. In truth, the energy and spirit of what has become the mission of GRO, Starfish, and Wash for Life is something beyond any of us, something that comes from a drive at the heart of humanity to create family across the globe. Papa Steve relays a quote to me which says, “Grace doesn’t come to you, it comes through you.” He believes that if it is truly a gift, it is given to other people. It is this sentiment that finds me thinking of stories like Linda’s, and how GRO’s belief that young girls can make a difference also translates to the knowledge that older girls can still make a difference. The ‘well within’, as I see it – the personal well of human nature inside us all that desires to connect and share joy and make the world a better place – has no limits of age or background or identity. When we give, we show and receive grace in a reciprocal way. I know my experiences with GRO, our friends in Malawi, our donors, and our partners, have taught me lifelong lessons about the meaning of perspective, ability, and connection. We all are capable of impacting lives, in a multitude of ways, and we all have an infinite amount to learn. What ultimately carries the legacy of the GRO mission, though, are the friendships. They are the reason we reach out and keep holding on. They are the reason, for instance, that we can stand up for a picture at a GRO presentation and represent three generations of Girls Reaching Out: the founders, the current, and the future. 34 boreholes, 17,000 students, and $255,000 is far more than we ever thought possible when GRO began – but it’s also just a great start.
As a founding member of GRO, to our friends in Malawi, know that you have brightened our lives with your friendship and partnership, in years past and for years to come. Thank you for sharing your stories, your culture, and your home with us. To our donors and partners, we are honored to have worked with and alongside you, and are committed unwaveringly to the legacy of your generosity and the mission you believed in. To the 2026 GRO girls, know that our pride and belief in your ability, dedication, and enthusiasm is monumental and matched by our love for the new shine you have brought to the group. And finally, to any future GRO Girls: there is nothing you cannot do to make the world a better, fuller, richer place when you make the life-changing decision to extend grace from the well within.
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