The CDK Story

Can Do Kids International began in 2007 as a small kids club at Community Bible Fellowship in El Paso, Illinois. What started as a local outreach quickly grew as other churches joined the vision. From the beginning, the mission has remained the same: helping children around the world experience God's love by empowering their communities to meet their most basic needs.

As the ministry grew and became an independent nonprofit in 2009, a simple but powerful lesson emerged: lasting impact begins with relationships and listening. Rather than arriving with solutions, Can Do Kids learned to ask questions, listen well, and partner with communities to address the needs they identified themselves.

A key turning point came through a friendship between founder Richard Scheuermann and JJ Mburu. Their partnership led to Can Do Kids' first international trip in 2012 and helped shape the ministry's global direction. In 2013, Can Do Kids received its 501(c)(3) status and officially became an international organization.

Listening to communities led to the first water project in Kenya, followed by many more as schools and villages requested access to clean water. The same approach opened doors in the Philippines, Ukraine, and later Malawi. As relationships deepened, new needs emerged—including educational support, food assistance, and safe shelter for vulnerable families. Each program grew not from assumptions, but from conversations, trust, and prayer.

Today, Can Do Kids has completed 88 water projects, sponsors students in their education, and has helped provide safe shelter for families in need. Most encouraging of all, many children who once received support are now caring for their own families and helping others in return. Through every season, the ministry has remained committed to its founding conviction: listen first, love well, and trust God to transform communities from the inside out.