.jpg)
.png)
Pensili
The Jeremiah McKenna Memorial Foundation
ABOUT pensili
A Bit of Background
Pensili is the living memory of Jeremiah "Jerry" McKenna, who was lovingly nicknamed "The Pencil Man" during his years of service to Bayou Woods Elementary School in Slidell, LA selling pencils. He always had a smile on his face and didn't take life too seriously, making Pensili the perfect name for his memorial foundation. ​
Pensili's Projects
Pensili means pencil in Swahili, the official language of Kenya. Originally, Pensili focused on donating school supplies and jump ropes to children in Kenya. Due to COVID temporarily restricting travel, Pensili shifted to donating school supplies to local Shreveport afterschool outreach programs: Common Ground in Cedar Grove and Broadmoor STEM Academy. Pensili then expanded to providing handmade, fun-shaped crayons to children in the two Ochsner LSU Shreveport hospitals. Now, thanks to a generous grant from the American Osteopathic College of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pensili is creating handmade, adaptive crayons for the Central Wisconsin Center and Gigi's Playhouse of Madison, Wisconsin to bring joy to people of all ages with different abilities.
.png)
spreading joy
SCHOOL SUPPLY DONATIONS
To Children in Kenya
To Afterschool Programs in Shreveport, LA
GLASSES AND TOOTHBRUSH DRIVES
For Patients in Kenya and Honduras
CRAYON CARE PACKAGES
For Patients in Shreveport Hospitals
For The Central Wisconsin Center
For Gigi's Playhouse in Madison, WI
Written by E.E. Cummings, this was Jerry McKenna's life motto.
“The most wasted of all days
is a day without laughter.”