In the Christmas Spirit

In the spirit of giving, Jeff and I have decided take on a project that hopefully will result in a Merry Christmas for some underprivileged kids. We have selected a proposal from Donors Choose* and hope to get the entire cost funded.

The proposal we chose is from a second grade teacher in Union, South Carolina who would like to have a Reading Center in her classroom** – a place to foster the children’s love of reading and to make the classroom more inviting. She believes a rug, a lamp, and a couple of bean bag chairs would do just the trick. The problem: Her school has no funding. About 90% of the students that attend receive free lunch – this means their families are at or below 130% of the poverty line. In other words, a child’s family income is probably around $23,000.

Although though there may be more “interesting” proposals on Donors Choose, I think Jeff said it best: “It makes me very sad and angry to think that all they are asking for is a rug, a lamp, and some chairs. That all seems like stuff they shouldn't have to ask for donations to have. Also, I bet those kids would be stoked the day all the new furnishings arrived.”

The image of the kids’ faces when the new things arrive is what sold me on the idea. They may not get much for Christmas from their home; the least we can do is try to give them a little something exciting when they go to school.

The entire cost is just over $500. We can’t afford to fund it all by ourselves, so that is where you come in. Through our respective blogs and friends we hope to spread the word to as many people as it takes to get the entire project funded. If you would be interested in helping us reach our goal of providing an extra Christmas to deserving children, please click here and donate as much or as little as you can – even $10 is almost 5% of the entire cost**. If you can't (or can) donate but know someone who can, please forward the link to him/her.

If we succeed, we will receive a thank you email from the teachers and students and perhaps some pictures, too. And that might just be all the Christmas gifts I need.


* Donors Choose is a new non-profit organization which helps facilitate funding to teachers in low-income areas. Teachers write a description of the supplies they need but which their school cannot afford, and donors browse the site to select a project which speaks to them.
**The particular proposal selected here was on the “shortly to expire list” which means it has been on the website a long time and will be taken off soon – which will make them even happier to see some action in the funding and which means time is of the essence. Please act quickly if possible.