Greetings, my name is Jake, and I hail from a small town in northern Maryland called Westminster. A few weeks ago I applied to go abroad to Brazil for the entire 2011-2012 academic year through the American Field Service (AFS) inter-cultural student exchange program.
In Brazil, I will be living with a host family and attending school. It is my hope to not only learn another language but also another culture and discover some things about myself that I would otherwise not have known. It is my hope that this experience will in turn make me a better person and will open my eyes to other people, interests, careers and ways of life than those I may see in the small eastern coastal town I call home.
However, I need to raise some money in order to realize this dream. I hope to raise at least $8,000 to cover the cost of the trip that my family cannot already cover. This includes international airfare and emergency medical coverage, as well as other assorted costs, such a two-week trip to the Amazon during my stay. I have several fundraisers planned for the next few months to assist in raising money, but I still need some help in order to make this happen. Thank-you for taking the time and interest to read my blog and learn about my aspirations. To help me raise money, please click the ChipIn button on the right side of this blog to made a non-tax deductible donation through PayPal. Whatever amount you are able to give, no matter how small, will help me reach my goal. I would be grateful if you could share my blog url with others whom you think may be interested in helping me achieve my goal. You can forward the link http://abraziliancycle.blogspot.com/.
For those of you without Paypal, you can always mail a check to my home address. We will put the money directly into the fund.
Thank-you.
Jake
Jake - This will be a life changing experience for you and I'm happy you are making the effort to make it a successful year in Brazil.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Barrer
Hey Jake, I am also an aspiring AFS exchange student. I was stunned to see your 6,325 dollars in contributions. I was just wondering what you did to bring awareness to your blog, and how you got such generous donations.
ReplyDeleteHey,
ReplyDeleteA lot of the money was from my family, most notably my Uncle who works all around the world and his partner. Some of the money was from friend's parents as an early graduation gift.
I also sent out an email to my friends asking for money and put the blog link on Facebook, which seemed to help.
Over $1000 of the money raised was through AFS matching the amount donated - they matched up to $500 per donation. http://www.afsusa.org/study-abroad/fundraising/sponsor-an-afser/getting-started/ was where I got most of my information from, and as they've been doing this for a while, I think they know what they're doing. :D
Also, although I didn't do this, if you have a part-time job or a 'job,' get your pay through the blog. I give private piano lessons and I get paid in cash, and sometimes I spend it simply because I have it on hand - you know how it is. If I had gotten paid through this blog, this wouldn't have been a problem as I would not have had any of it to spend. That seems like an idea worth trying.
Good luck! if you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them.