Last September I attended a session at USAID’s and GWU’s Global Health Mini-University where they discussed the global burden of intestinal worms and knew I wanted to do more. So five months ago when the Just 50 Cents Campus Challenge started, I was very excited! I have a busy schedule between work, school, and research projects, so I started thinking about less time-consuming alternatives to raise funds for a good cause, primarily though use of the internet and social networking sites. I wasn’t convinced I would be successful, but I gave it a try!
…And it was simple! I signed up to be a Global Network student ambassador for the Campus Challenge and then created a Facebook page event for my Just 50 Cents campaign “Make Your Change Count” and invited all 329 of my friends. I sent them updates and invites again and again and asked them to invite more people. In addition to my online efforts, I cooked dinner for friends in exchange for donations. We celebrated their generosity with drinks and food– I sent thank you notes to everyone, even to friends that donated $1, to show them my appreciation. It was so much fun!!! My final campaign effort was a contribution of pennies I’ve collected off the street for the last two years with the hope of donating them to a good cause… and I did!
I thank you all for your support and generosity! Especially Scott who cooked dinner in exchange for donations and was kind enough to go to the bank with all the coins, and to Erin for her endless patience and hard work.
Make your change count! We can do much more. Next step…an Internship with the Global Network to help deworm the world!
Manuel Claros, winner of the individual Campus Challenge, is a graduate student at GW School of Public Health MPH Global Health policy. He is a foreign medical graduate from Colombia with 10 years of experience in HIV prevention and education. He enjoys photography, going to the movies, traveling and cooking.
Congrats Manuel and to all those who put in so much hard work on behalf of the Campus Challenge!