Fundraising letters

I mailed out fundraising letters for my trip to Ethiopia the other day so I thought I'd post a copy of the letter on here too.

January 1, 2009

Dear Friend ,

I have been blessed with an amazing opportunity to travel to Ethiopia for a month this summer to volunteer in orphanages in Addis Ababa. To make this possible, I need to raise over $3000 to pay for my plane ticket, transportation, food, and other necessities. I believe God is calling me to this work, so I believe He will also provide a way to raise the funds I need over the coming months.

There are 4.6 million orphans living in Ethiopia due to AIDS, starvation, malaria, and other causes. I want to volunteer in the Ethiopian orphanages to both serve the dedicated workers who care for these children, and also to show love and compassion to the orphans, sharing with them the love I have received from God, my family and my friends. I believe every child should know they are loved and wanted and I hope to be able to show them that.

I will be traveling under the organization Cherokee Gives Back, the philanthropic outreach program of the investment firm Cherokee, which works to improve the lives of individuals and communities from around the world through a variety of social, environmental and economic development initiatives. Cherokee Gives Back owns and operates a house located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where I will be staying during my visit. They will connect me with various orphanages in Addis Ababa where I will serve in any way that is needed. To find out more about Cherokee Gives Back, check out their website at http://www.cherokeegivesback.org

Along with working in the orphanages, I plan on utilizing my photography skills to photograph and document the people and places that I encounter in Ethiopia. This will help raise awareness for the organizations I will be working with, provide images for Cherokee Gives Back to use in promoting their program, and also will allow me to share with others my experience and hopefully encourage more people to take an interest in caring for the orphans of Ethiopia and the world.

I first became interested in serving Ethiopian orphans after our friends, the Mestas family, traveled to Ethiopia in 2007 to bring home their three beautiful children. While they were staying in Addis Ababa, they visited various different orphanages and met many of the children who lived there. When the Mestases returned home, they brought many stories of how little the children had, yet how joyful and loving they still were. Hearing these stories made me want to go to Ethiopia myself and meet these children and help them in any way that I could.

There are a few different ways that you can help support me:

First, you can help support me through your prayers. I will be traveling by myself to a third world country and will be immersed in a very unfamiliar culture. This will be the longest I have spent out of the country and away from anything familiar. As I go on this adventure I can’t think of anything better than having an army of friends and family back home praying for me.

Second, you can help provide financial support for my living and travel expenses as I serve in Ethiopia. As a college student, I do not have a lot of money and traveling abroad is expensive. In order to go, I will need to raise the money to pay for the trip. Here is a reak down of my estimated costs to travel to Ethiopia:

Flight: $2,000

Vaccinations: $300

Travel Medical Insurance: $250

Visa (<>

Room and Board $100/week

Tip for Ethiopian Staff $10/week

Meals, Taxis etc… $20/week

TOTAL $3090

If you wish to help financially support me as I serve the orphans in Ethiopia, please make checks payable to me and mail them in the self-addressed envelope included.

Third, you can help support me by donating money to the organizations I will be serving with. As a volunteer with Cherokee Gives Back, I am required to raise $500 to support efforts in Ethiopia. This money will help defray program expenses and help support the poor. Donations made to support Cherokee Gives Back’s Ethiopia Program are also tax-deductible [Tax ID 27-0132571]. If you wish to donate money to the Ethiopia Program, please make checks payable to Cherokee Gives Back and indicate in the memo section Ethiopia Program and mail them to me in the self-addressed envelope included.

To document my journey and to keep everyone who whishes informed and updated, I have started a blog, www.sherbert-footsteps.blogspot.com where I will be posting updates on my trip and my preparations, along with other information.

I know most people do not have the time or the means to go and serve in another country themselves, but by supporting me you are helping in another country because without your support, my trip to Ethiopia would not be possible. Thank you so much for your help and for caring about helping the orphans in Ethiopia.

Sincerely,

Sarah Herbert