Anyone who has school-age children knows that getting enough resources in the classroom is a huge challenge. Things that we should be able to take for granted (like having tissues, paper towels and toilet paper) are now items that teachers have to ask students to provide. Funds for special projects, school trips and other things that help kids get excited about school, are simply nonexistent.
DonorsChoose is a web-based organization that allows teachers to submit projects for funding. Then, individuals can select the specific project they wish to support and make a donation. Funds are used to buy materials for the project, which are then sent directly to the classroom. So, you know that your funds are going exactly where you'd like them to.
DonorsChoose has begun the Donors Choose Challenge, where they have challenged a blogs and websites to get their readers to contribute to these projects. Rather than signing up myself, I've donated on Fred Wilson's A VC blog page and I encourage you to do the same. To-date, Fred's blog has raised about $16k, roughly 2/3 of his $25k goal.
As an added bonus, the top 2 sites, in terms of total donors, will get to have lunch with Yahoo's Jerry Yang. Fred has graciously agreed to give that lunch invite to someone who donates through his page. Details are provided here.
I think it's criminal that in a society that gives hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to energy companies, we still don't invest adequately in our children's education (or, to quote a recent statement by our President, so that our "childrens do learn"). But this isn't the forum for that discussion (I'd gladly have it offline with anyone who'd like to). Instead, this is an opportunity to make a direct impact on specific students. Donations can be as small or as large as you'd like. So, visit the Fred Wilson Challenge page, grab your credit card and make an impact.
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