We've been busy since the last blog! We've had TWO collections for the FROM toy drive, Mr. Audia and Mrs. Connor met a really cool lady doing amazing things from Costa Rica, our T-shirts came in, and we made some loans. Check out below for a quick snapshot of all of it!!!
Collections for FROM Toy Drive
Our money collections for the toy drive have been very successful and a lot of fun. Our final collection will be next week (December 8th) which will be the same day we take a group of our members to shop at Meijer and then drop off the toys at FROM. These kids are beyond excited to see this project to its completion.
December 8 is also the Pink it Forward day of the month. We haven't had one since October
December 8 is also the Pink it Forward day of the month. We haven't had one since October
Empowering Women of Costa Rica
Before Thanksgiving, Mr. Audia and Mrs. Connor met with a really amazing woman named Selenia Rodriguez. She is from Costa Rica and was introduced to us through a parent of an Early Act student. Selenia is here building a network of support. She is the recipient of an internship with GROW (Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women). She has created an organization called EmpowerHer! that she plans to launch when she goes back to Costa Rica in December. Selenia will help women entrepreneurs become better and more efficient at running their businesses. While she was here, we did a Kiva loan to some women in Costa | Rica in honor of her. What an amazing woman! We are definitely going to keep in touch with her through her journey. See the loan we made here. |
T-Shirts Are In!!!!
It has been a long wait, but our Early Act T-shirts have finally arrived! Students who ordered shirts received them today and were thrilled! We have several who still want to order, so we will most likely do another round of orders in a couple of months. Stay tuned!
These t-shirts are meant for students to wear to special Early Act events (like the trip to Meijer and FROM next week), but will also raise awareness of our group. The QR code on the shirt can be scanned with a smart phone and takes you right to our webpage!! The art on the shirt was drawn by Mrs. Connor and each of the people is a cartoon representation of an actual person we have made a loan to on Kiva.
These t-shirts are meant for students to wear to special Early Act events (like the trip to Meijer and FROM next week), but will also raise awareness of our group. The QR code on the shirt can be scanned with a smart phone and takes you right to our webpage!! The art on the shirt was drawn by Mrs. Connor and each of the people is a cartoon representation of an actual person we have made a loan to on Kiva.
The Latest Loans
We are now up to 252 loans in 79 out of the 82 countries available on Kiva!!!! Recently, we added the country of Lesotho, Africa (a country INSIDE the country of South Africa to our portfolio of borrowers. This is one of the most live changing loans we've ever made. Find out why here and here. We are looking to make many more loans over the next two weeks as our current loans are paying us back more and more.