A new beginning

In May 2012, after struggling with sobriety, Kenny Wynne, 24, of Branford, was looking for a way to climb out of his downward spiral. He graduated from Branford High School in 2010 and enrolled at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. But before earning enough credits to graduate, he chose to drop out of school in order to find a greater purpose in life, he said.

“I was searching for something more. I looked to the worst parts of the world so I could invest in other people’s lives,” Wynne said.

He headed to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, where he worked in an orphanage with a local pastor through IFRE Volunteers. After his first trip, Wynne said he raised $4,000 to travel back to the country.

He had spent a majority of the donated funds on building new classrooms and purchasing medical supplies at the orphanage. “The (pastor) started saying he needed more money. I was always giving him money. Then, the remaining of my cash disappeared, my clothes were gone and my money was finished. He told me, ‘Get your stuff and get out,’” Wynne said. “Everything happens for a reason.”

After his belongings were stolen, Kamran Farid, co-founder of Edible Arrangements and president of Kamran Capital Group, gave Wynne a personal donation to be used toward improving the refugees’ quality of life in the camps after the 24-year-old welcomed Farid to his neighborhood after moving in next door.

“I just went over one day, brought a vase of flowers, and wrote a letter saying who I was,” Wynne said. The following day, a red Ferrari pulled into his driveway. “(Farid) gave me a check for $10,000 and said ‘I want to see what you can do with this.’”