Call for Donations!

So by now most of you have already gotten an email about this, but I will post it here as well, just to cover my bases.

As I said in an earlier post, this winter vacation I am joining a volunteer trip to India, where we will be building houses in a village that was devastated in the 2004 tsunami. The Dalit who live there received little or no help from the government because of their "untouchable" status. The trip is part of a larger project called Building Communities, and is overseen by a Rhode Island based non-profit called Longitude. A group of volunteers broke ground on 49 new houses last year, and our group will be continuing where they left off (and hopefully finishing!)

Our group's website:

http://www.golongitude.org/www/JET_Winter_2007.html

But in order for the project to be successful, we need to raise the money to buy all the building supplies. There are 25 of us giving our time and labor over the Christmas holiday to build these houses, but without the money not much can happen! Our group's goal is $10,400, and so far we officially have about $600. There is still a long way to go, but we have about 25 people working on this, so we are really optimistic.

Basically, the more money we raise, the more houses we can build. The donation money will not be used to pay for my plane ticket, accommodation, or food - all of that is coming out of m own pocket. Donations will go towards building supplies needed to finish the houses, and any extra will be used to purchase other stuff for the villagers - food, clothes, meds, etc.

I have set my personal fundraising goal at $500.

At first I thought that amount seemed a bit ambitious, but my very first donation - from an old friend of my dad's who I have not seen since I was a kid - was for $100!!!!! And it has only gotten better from there! I decide not to announce my total to anyone until I am finished fundraising ... seems more fun that way, no?

So that is where I need everyone's help! Every little bit counts, so even if you can only give 5 or 10 bucks, trust me when I say that it will be greatly appreciated!

Please pass it on to anyone else you know that might be interested in donating. Especially anyone that has been to India and seen the poverty first hand. Also, a lot of people like to give charitable donations around Christmas time, so if you know anyone like that, you can let them know about the building communities project.

Some companies will match the donations their employees make around Christmas time, so it might be worth looking into that as well.

If you can donate, there are two ways to do it, online or by mail.

ONLINE - Go to:
http://www.golongitude.org/www/JET_Winter_2007.html

You can make a secure online donation right from the website. But there is a 4.75% commission taken out by the company that runs the site.

MAIL - Send check made payable to "Longitude."

Longitude
21 Crescent St.
Providence, RI 02907

Write "ARV KI Housing Campaign - Winter Work Camp" on the memo line. Submit a note asking for a tax deductible receipt if needed.

If neither of those is ideal, let me know - there are other options.

If you are able to donate, please let me know - I have to keep track of how much I have raised. And they hope to send the bulk of the money off to India around November 23rd in order to be able to purchase the building supplies well before our arrival, so please make the donation before then!

Thank you so much for any help you can give!!!