The Millstone Times August 2018

East Windsor Township

First Ever 1000 Goat Wedding

On June 16, 2018, Edwin James Dean (physician in Naples, Florida) and Katherine Kim Parker (business women from West Lafayette, Indiana) will share nuptials at THE first ever “1000 Goat Wedding”. As a couple in their fifth decade of life and with no need for wedding presents, they have re- quested donations be made to their favorite charity, Villages in Partnership (VIP) which aids the “poorest of the poor” in Malawi, Africa. The event is called a “Celebration of Life” and the couple wishes to high- light not only their happy union but also the many lives VIP has touched by raising 1000 goats on their behalf. Each goat is $50 and provides poor families with a source of income. Stephen Heinzel-Nelson will officiate the wedding. He was Ed’s college roommate at Cornell University. They met on the first day of classes when they both were at the wrong biology 101 class. Stephen and Edwin were both pre-med; however, Steve changed his major and eventually attended Princeton Seminary. As a Presbyterian minister, he and his wife Liz took a one-year sabbatical with their four children and preached and worked in Malawi, Africa. Ed promised to visit and when he did, they helped build a preschool in one of the poorest villages. This was the birth of the nonprofit Villages in Part- nership run by Stephen and Liz. The organization provides six necessities

for sustainable living: food, water, healthcare, education, infrastructure, and economic development. Since 2009 VIP has drilled 40 wells, treated 40,000 patients, built 16 classrooms and nine teachers' houses, trained farmers on best farming practices, constructed nine bridges, and distributed 91 beehives. For more information, you can visit their wedding website at Ed-and-kathy.us or contact Carissa Rea at carissa.rea@villagesinpartnership.org or by phone 609-751-3020.

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