Christmas Donations

For Christmas we got several donations! Kelly and Jesse Sponsored a day and we got donations from Ron and Kathy Taylor, Roger and Shirley Mickelson, and from Flossie Knutson. Thank you so much! Here are some pictures of the Banana Kelly and Jesse got us. (meaning they were sponsoring me for August 28th)

Officially Signed Up!

We've officially signed up and paid our deposits. We are going July 6th - September 1st. We also got our first donation tonight from Amber and Casey Woolsey. Thanks guys!!

Volunteering in Brazil

Megan and I have decided to make a blog about our volunteer trip to Brazil. (It was mostly me but that's okay). I figure this way, we can update people about fundraising and then our trip from anywhere. We are going to sign up soon so it will be official. Then we just have to find the money to go volunteer for two months this summer in Brazil. We plan to go through a non-profit organization called Cross Cultural Solutions. That way, donations to our cause are tax deductible. Megan plans to volunteer in a hospital in Salvador so she can use her medical skills helping underprivileged children down there. I think I will teach English in an underfunded government school. We'll update this periodically to document our progress and post pictures when we finally get there.

Cross Cultural Solutions

This is a little information I gleaned from their website about the program we’re interested in:

Salvador, Brazil:

As an international volunteer with Cross-Cultural Solutions, you're making a meaningful contribution, working side-by-side with local people and sharing in the goals of a community that warmly welcomes you. You're experiencing another culture like never before and really getting to know its people.

What you can do:
Observing and Assisting Local Medical Professionals
Caring for infants/children
Teaching English/Assisting teachers
Working with People affected by HIV/AIDS
Caring for elderly and disabled
Women’s empowerment

The CCS experience includes cultural and learning activities which give you the opportunity to learn about local culture and customs, and understand community development; this ensures that your volunteer experience is truly complete.

Free time is available some afternoons, most evenings, and every weekend. This time is yours to get to know the community and people in your own way. You’ll enjoy the local markets, historic places of interest, Internet cafes and more.

We provide a Home-Base for all of our volunteers. Here, all of your daily needs are taken care of, including lodging, meals and transportation. The CCS Home-Base is designed to help you enjoy all the country has to offer without the frustrations or time spent on day-to-day logistics. It also means that we are not burdening the local community with supporting or caring for the needs of our volunteers.

For more information, visit www.CROSSCULTURALSOLUTIONS.ORG

We would like people to sponsor one or both of us for a specific day between June 30th-September 1st. We will keep a journal of our activities for each day so the contributor can see what their specific donation helped to do. This is merely a fun idea, but any and every little bit helps greatly! We will be holding a party when we return to present a slide show of pictures! Thank you!
Monetary donations are very much appreciated as well as tax deductible: The easiest way to donate is to click on the links on the side of the page. You can pay with a credit card!

Send check/money order/banker's draft to: Cross-Cultural Solutions
(Please include our names on the notes line)
2 Clinton Place
New Rochelle, NY 10801

FYI – The breakdown of fees and charges are as follows:
Total cost: 9 weeks = $4,391 per person, $70 per day per person

The base fee of $2,489 for two weeks covers the cost of:
-$648 – program development and management
-$455 – outreach
-$321 – volunteer coordination
-$409 – administration
-$549 – first two weeks of field experiences
-$107 – in country start-up: orientation, placement, assistance, and adjustment
Additional weeks are $272 each. This portion covers our field expenses, which breaks down as follows:
-19% food and water ($52/week or $7/day)
-16% lodging accommodations ($44/week or $6/day)
-34% local staff ($90/week or $13/day)
-19% insurance, basic amenities, phone service and office space ($52/week or $7/day)
-13% volunteer transportation ($35/week or $5/day)