Established in October 2014 by friends of Albania
The mission of the foundation is to sponsor community-based humanitarian, educational and good-will projects in Albania.
Friends of Albania, serving together
With a desire to serve the people of Albania, especially children, many friends of Albania, including missionaries and mission presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established the Albanian Faith in Every Footstep Foundation in October 2014. The mission of the foundation is to sponsor community-based humanitarian, educational and good-will projects in Albania.
The foundation offers an exceptional opportunity for friends of the Albanian people to serve with and build friendships with the Albanian community in meaningful projects. We are working together to help those in Albania who are most disadvantaged—especially children.
Our purpose
UNITE
The Albanian Faith in Every Footstep Foundation is focused on uniting friends of Albania to support community-based humanitarian, educational and good will projects in Albania
ESTABLISH
With a desire to help those in disadvantaged circumstances, especially children, many friends of Albania, including past missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints established the foundation in October 2014.
SERVE
The foundation offers an exceptional opportunity for friends of the Albanian people to serve together in meaningful ways. Please join us by making a tax-deductible contribution or becoming involved in the foundation's projects.
How the foundation grew
- 1992
Missionary work opens in Albania
Matt Wirthlin — later a founding member and the foundation's president — is called from the Germany Munich mission to help open missionary work in Albania.
- 2014
The foundation is established
Friends of Albania, including missionaries and mission presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, establish the foundation in October.
- 2015
The first project
On October 9, 2015 a group of foundation volunteers travel from the US and gather with local volunteers for a day of service, providing physical and financial assistance to Albanian charities and organizations.
- 2018
Liri Como Kindergarten, Pogradec
A whole kindergarten repainted and re-windowed, with heaters in every classroom just in time for winter — 120 children and their teachers.
- 2019
Earthquakes, and the Bletas school
Relief for families in Korçë and Durrës, and the Ymer Mingo school at Bletas rebuilt with 12 local contractors and 40 volunteers.
- 2021
Durrës Baby House Orphanage
Repairs, cribs and supplies for an infant orphanage damaged by the earthquake.
- 2022
Gjirokastër playground and senior center
A playground at the Baba Rexhepi school in Lazarat that doubles as a community playground, funded by a matched-gift campaign.
- 2023
Dragot School Renovation
A month-long renovation of a rural K-12 school: new ceramic floors, repaired windows and doorways, and a playground.
- 2024
Battered Women's Shelter, Kamëz
A shelter that had served Albanian women for years — without a working kitchen — fully repaired, rewired and re-equipped.
- 2025
Orphanage — Zyber Hallulli
A new kitchen and food preparation area, and general repairs to the orphanage.
How the work happens
Albanian Faith in Every Footstep Foundation volunteers travel to Albania and gather with locals to complete foundation service projects and to provide physical and financial assistance to local Albanian charities and organizations. The foundation aids in youth and adult education and business development programs.
Community
Our mission is to sponsor community-based humanitarian, educational and good will projects in Albania. We hope to serve and build friendships with the Albanian community in meaningful projects for those in Albania who are most disadvantaged—especially children.
Humanitarian
Our first project, on October 9, 2015, a group of Albanian Faith in Every Footstep Foundation volunteers traveled from the US and gather with local volunteers for a day of service to provide physical and financial assistance to Albanian charities and organizations.
Education
We serve and build friendships with the Albanian community in meaningful renovation projects for those young children in Albania who are most disadvantaged. The Foundation supports advanced education for Albanians through tuition assistance and providing computers.
Service
Each year we pick several service projects to support those that are most in need. Service project include school renovations, hospital projects, disaster aid and service to families in need.
Our board
Returned missionaries, an in-country board member in Tiranë, and families who keep going back.
A founding member, in Albania since the missionary work opened there in 1992.
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Twenty years in airline technology, and a household that asks for qumësht.
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Lives in Tiranë; oversees the foundation's work on the ground in Albania.
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Served as a senior missionary in Pogradec with his wife Virginia.
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Served in Tiranë, Durrës and Elbasan from 1999–2001; a city planner in Idaho Falls.
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Has returned to Albania as a State Department intern, a university recruiter, and a friend.
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Taught Albanian at the Missionary Training Center; says her soul is Albanian.
Read biography →Get involved in the foundation's projects.
Give, send a laptop, or come with us on the next trip.