A letter from the International Relief Friendship Foundation
Dear Friends,
I hope that this holiday season finds you and your family well. Our project, Supporting Success Scholarship Fund, provides scholarships to gifted students from poverty-stricken families who can’t afford the cost of their education. It is participating in GlobalGiving.com’s November "Give More – Get More Challenge" to raise funds that will allow us to provide scholarships to the 35 students in Zambia and the 30 students in Bangladesh whose education we sponsor.
We have until December 1 to receive matching funds for your generous donations and to compete for up to $10,000 in prizes that we can win if we raise the most money or receive the most donations.
Any donation made at www.globalgiving.com/projects/suppporting-success/ by December 1, 2009 will be matched by 30 percent, 40 percent or even 50 percent, depending on how much we raise.
Please donate now and contribute to the life of a child in a very tangible and powerful way. By giving them a chance at an education, you are giving them a chance at a successful future.
Thank you, in advance, for your generosity and support.
An Introduction to the Supporting Success Scholarship Fund
The Supporting Success Scholarship Fund was begun by the International Relief Friendship Foundation (IRFF) in the summer of 2006 in the poverty-stricken Mackenzie Community of Ndola, Zambia. We went there to build an addition to a school that IRFF had built many years ago and realized that there was a far greater need than we were able to meet.
Students were dropping out of school at the age of ten because the school, which is free, only offers grades one to four, and the families could not afford to pay the fees required by public schools. With a generous donation, we were able to send ten gifted students on to the fifth grade with full scholarships that covered all of their expenses - tuition, uniform, books, supplies, and even shoes.
Since that time, Supporting Success has expanded in Zambia and has been initiated in Bangladesh as well. In 2009, Supporting Success sponsored 25 students in Zambia and 20 students in Bangladesh. Its mission is to provide the opportunity of education to gifted students from impoverished families who cannot afford to give them an education in developing countries where public primary school is not free or guaranteed.
Students are chosen based on their academic achievement, their demonstrated commitment to their education, and the inability of their family to cover the expenses of public school. Without sponsorship from our generous donors, these students would otherwise be unable to pursue their education and would no longer be in school.
As we prepare to sponsor our fourth class of students in January, we are happy to hear that the Zambian government has recently decided to make education free through the seventh grade. We also realize, however, that the costs of a uniform, shoes, books, and school supplies are still prohibitive for the children that we sponsor and that without our help in meeting these costs, our students will still not be able to attend school.
In order to meet the needs of our 35 students in Zambia and in order to provide scholarships to the 30 students we will sponsor in Bangladesh this year, we need your help: Supporting Success is competing in GlobalGiving.com’s “Give More – Get More Challenge”, where every donation made on their website by December 1, 2009 will be matched by 30%, 40% or even 50%. Please donate at http://www.globalgiving.com/projects/suppporting-success/. Through your donation, you will be contributing to the life of a child in a very tangible and powerful way. By giving them a chance at an education, you are giving them a chance at a successful future.
Thank you, in advance, for your generosity and support.
For more information, please contact:
Paul Byrne,