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Global Soap Project founder Derreck Kayongo to be SLCC Commencement Speaker

Derreck Kayongo, founder of the Global Soap Project, will provide the Commencement address for Salt Lake Community College’s graduation ceremony. Commencement 2013 will take place on May 9 at 4:30 p.m. at the Maverik Center, located at 3200  South Decker Lake Drive in West Valley City.

Derreck Kayongo, Global Soap Project, SLCC 2013 Commencement address. Photo credit.
A finalist for CNN’s Hero  award, Kayongo will share his story of moving to the United States and founding an international organization with the College’s graduation class.

“Derreck Kayongo is such an amazing speaker and person. We are delighted that his voice and his story will inspire our graduates,” said Deneece Huftalin, SLCC Student Services vice president. “The work he is doing to improve peoples lives and living conditions—giving so many a chance for better, longer lives—is truly inspirational and offers our students a wonderful example of taking advantage of opportunities to make the world better.”

Derreck Kayongo is an African refugee and philanthropist who founded the Global Soap Project, a non-governmental organization that recycles gently used soaps—mostly from hotels—and distributes them to areas of need.

More than 2.4 million children die each year from hygiene-related illnesses. Diarrhea is the second leading cause of child death in the world today, and the top cause of child mortality in sub-saharan Africa.The Global Soap Project is dedicated to saving lives through soap, awareness, and education.

Kayongo’s organization has distributed new soap in 23 countries to improve health for disaster victims, refugees, and children and mothers living in extreme poverty.

“800 million bars of soap are thrown away by hotels in the U.S. alone each year,” Kayongo said. “I want to put a bar of soap in the hand of every child who can’t afford it.”

Hundreds of thousands of bars of recycled soap have been sent to countries like Malawi and Haiti because of Kayongo’s program. The organization was named a regional winner in the Health and Wellness Category of the Annual CLASSY Awards. The CLASSY Awards recognizes outstanding philanthropic achievement and is the country’s largest philanthropic awards ceremony.

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