A buffet dinner, an hour of live jazz, and a Ugandan marketplace will fill Greenbrier Elementary School in Arlington Heights on Oct. 17, all in service of a classroom building in Musiye village, Uganda. The third annual Fall Foodie Fest, announced by Shelter Academy of Light, runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and asks attendees to register by Oct. 10.
The nonprofit behind the event was formally established in 2013, according to Shelter Academy of Light. As reported by the Daily Herald, the fundraiser will feature silent auction baskets alongside the meal and music, with proceeds going toward building and opening a school in an impoverished area of the Mount Elgon region of Eastern Uganda. The event takes place at Greenbrier Elementary, located at 2330 N. Verde Drive, a school within Arlington Heights School District 25 that has backed the nonprofit's mission.
From Arlington Heights Classrooms to a Uganda Campus
Shelter Academy of Light was founded by George and Grace Sakwa, both native Ugandans who raised their own children within District 25 before deciding to bring that same quality of education back to the region where they grew up, per the Daily Herald's report. Grace Sakwa was orphaned at age 9 in Uganda, while George Sakwa taught sign language at Kyambogo University before emigrating to the United States in 1998, where he spent 25 years working in healthcare, according to Shelter Academy of Light's account of its founding. The organization says it works to bring educational opportunity to the Bubutu community of Eastern Uganda and has partnered with six local elementary schools there.
Official groundbreaking for the Shelter Academy of Light Primary School took place in November 2025 in Musiye village, Musiye parish, Buwambwa Sub-County, within Namisindwa District, as reported by 101.4 Elgon FM. The Daily Herald notes that fundraising and fellowship at the Oct. 17 event will go toward continuing to build and eventually open the school.
Why the Region Needs It
Namisindwa District's 2024 Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) results offer a snapshot of local educational outcomes. Primary schools across the district have also been forced into split morning and afternoon shifts or merged grade levels because of severe classroom shortages and deteriorating facilities, according to a report shared by the Daily Monitor.
Those local pressures echo a national pattern. The Uganda School Project says UNICEF estimated that 32% of children who enroll in primary school are likely to drop out before completing seven years. Shelter Academy of Light's programming also addresses a specific driver of dropout among girls: the nonprofit works with local women who make reusable feminine hygiene products, which the Daily Herald reports helps keep girls in school. UNICEF figures cited by Joy for Children Uganda indicate adolescent girls in Uganda miss up to 11% of school days each month due to a lack of menstrual hygiene supplies and private sanitary facilities.
Reading Clubs and Sports Round Out the Mission
Beyond the new campus, Shelter Academy of Light runs Small Steps Reading Clubs that provide after-school reading support and organize football and netball teams for students, per the Daily Herald's account. The organization's broader work spans its partner elementary schools in the Bubutu community, layering academic support and extracurricular activity on top of the physical construction underway in Musiye village.
Sponsors and How to Get Involved
Silver-level sponsors for the Oct. 17 event include Juliet Skuldt of Berkshire Hathaway Stark Realty and Melissa Gilland of Christian Pre-K Prep Preschool, according to the Daily Herald. Those interested in registering, donating, or learning more about the campus construction can do so at shelteracademy.org, per the Daily Herald.
Arlington Heights School District 25, which has supported Shelter Academy of Light's mission, serves roughly 5,300 students across nine public schools, including Greenbrier Elementary, which had 289 students in grades Pre-K through fifth, according to Ballotpedia. It is that same district experience the Sakwas hope to extend to students on the other side of the world, one buffet dinner at a time.
