This was a no-brainer: I resolved that I would create a platform to give underprivileged students a graphing calculator. My resolution was the direct result of my attendance at the life-changing & awe-inspiring World Domination Summit. At its conclusion, Chris Guillebeau, the founder of WDS, gave each attendee a $100 bill to “make a difference.” He challenged us to invest our crisp one hundred-dollar bills to help change the world. And then, I discovered GIFT. Was I ever in for an amazing journey!
GIFT stands for Graph It Forward Today, a non-profit organization. Its mission is to create “equal educational opportunities for high school students nationwide by providing essential academic tools to students limited not by ability, but by means.” I stumbled upon GIFT while researching organizations that also might be focused on the very intent of my WDS resolution. Impulsively, I reached out to GIFT founder, Laura Wilson, to see how I could help. She asked, “What sparked your interest in calculators for underprivileged kids?” Good question!
My interest all began with a tweet, a tweet that asked for help: A teacher at a local high school was hoping to raise money to outfit her students with their own graphing calculators. Unable to afford one, these students had to use the classroom’s limited calculators only at school during school hours. How on earth would these students thrive without better access to tools necessary to excel?! I was motivated to respond to the tweet, connect with the teacher and raise enough money to buy 15 calculators. But that was only the beginning!
I went on to explain to Laura that I had also uncovered similar organizations, but none as comprehensive as her amazing creation. My dream? What if we could link them together with GIFT to scale at a level that would have nation-wide impact? Ever since that conversation, I’ve been working with GIFT, Laura & Nina Auerbach to do just exactly that! I believe in their mission so passionately that I invested Chris’ $100 in GIFT and am now sharing sales of Hashcapades, one cookbook and one dollar at a time!
So, I invite you to make a difference in the lives of students longing to fulfill their own dreams. Whether you buy a cookbook or donate directly to GIFT, your generosity matters more than you’ll ever know!
Clark
Comments are closed.