Giving Back


Cutting Through Poverty by Giving Back

Arlan Mendell, owner and operator of Central Oregon Sharpening, wants to make a difference in people’s lives. He believes his sharpening services for all things that cut helps people cut safely and effectively, leading to more fulfilling experiences whether it’s cooking, yard work or any other activities that call for blades.

But Mendell also wants to make a positive difference in kids’ lives thousands of miles away. Mendell wants to cut through the debilitating poverty that exists in Africa, specifically in Kenya. Latest estimates have it that there are more than 2.5 million orphans in Kenya alone, as a result of war, malaria, and the AIDS epidemic. Poverty affects nearly every facet of these kids’ lives, as they struggle to gain access to potable water and enough food to stay alive.

Mendell believes he can be a part of the solution to these lives that are filled with severe hardship. That is why he supports Orphanages of Kenya, a non-profit organization that is envisioned by its founders as a way to restore hope to shattered lives and bring the Word of God and the love of Christ to orphans.  Orphanages of Kenya cares for the orphaned, destitute, outcast, unloved, needy, sick, and handicapped or dying children.  They welcome these children with a home, love, happiness, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual nourishment, as well as the highest education possible.

Started in 2007, Orphanages of Kenya is committed to the care of young orphans and provides for all of their basic needs that include safe water to drink, enough food for healthy growth and development, and education to become engaged and productive adults.

Mendell owns and operates an orphanage called The Promised Land, located just southeast of Nairobi in Kenya. His generous support offers care for 44 boys and girls, ages 5 to 15 years old. Mendell’s Central Oregon Sharpening business is a funding source for this orphanage, which welcomes displaced children with nurture and love and teaches them to claim their inheritance in the promises of God.

“It is our vision to grow our family of The Promised Land by welcoming more displaced children to nurture and love, and to teach them to claim their inheritance in the promises of God,” says Mendell.

Humble in appearance, The Promised Land is modeled after the Promised Land of the Bible. It gives hope of a better, brighter future for orphans. This orphanage is comprised of a dormitory housing for children, a director’s quarters, a bathhouse, a kitchen, and a multi-use room.

Vist The Orphanage