This month I allocated my $100 of charitable giving to kids at the school where I teach. I had two opportunities to give at my school and I'm quite happy with both of my choices.
First, our AVID program went on a trip to UC Berkeley. AVID stands for Advancement via Individual Determination. It's a program to help kids who might not otherwise go to college get prepared for that goal. These aren't the honors students or the kids at the bottom; they are the kids in the middle who often get overlooked. Most of them would be the first person in their family to go to college. This is a great program, that teaches kids how to work hard and smart so they can have a better future. They go on lots of trips to local colleges, but this year the 8th grade teacher organized a trip to UC Berkeley for the kids. They went overnight, got to tour the school, go to a museum and stay in a hotel overnight. The kids did a lot of fundraising, but they were still short funds. The teacher sent out an email, saying that they still needed more donations; $82 would cover the cost to send one kid on the trip. I picked a kid that had been in my class a few years ago and sent a check down on her behalf.
The next day she ran into my room at nutrition with a huge smile on her face. She thanked me profusely and talked about how excited she was for the trip. It felt good to actually help someone I know with my money. I think this trip was a great opportunity for the kids, and hopefully it was another step in their college dreams!
I'll do a separate post on what I did with the other $20 of my giving money for April. It was for another kid I know, which made it even more meaningful!
That is so cool. You know, some kids like you are describing really have no way of understanding what college is like, or that they could be there unless they have oppurtunities like the one your school put on. That's a great place to donate money.
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