NEWS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
5th grade student at Brandeis Hillel Day School is raising money for school uniforms for Tedeini students
Sausalito, CA - (June 10, 2011)
11-year-old Mira Welner raises funds for Caravan to Class
As a project for her 11th birthday, Mira Welner is working with Caravan to Class to raise money to purchase school uniforms for students in Tedeini, a village near Timbuktu, Mali. "Uniforms will be worn by the school children as a source of pride," says Director, Barry Hoffner. "Hopefully this will help increase the enrollment of students and help to overcome the tide of illiteracy in Africa's poor villages." Literacy for Mali's children is one of the goals for Caravan to Class.
Hoffner sites Mira's project as one of the creative ways that people are getting involved with his organization. "This is a great way to inspire our local kids—whose circumstances are so different than those in Africa—to help those less fortunate, while educating them about those deserving children who lack access to a basic education." Hoffner hopes that many others will follow her lead.
Attached is a copy of Mira's email sent to her friends. If you would like to make a contribution in her name please see the instructions within.
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Caravan to Class is a registered 501c3 which seeks to bring education to villages in Mali and across Africa, one village at a time, by engaging diverse communities of supporters.
Contact:
Caravan to Class
Barry Hoffner
Tel: 415.331.0567
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Mira teams up with Caravan to Class
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Dear Friends and Family,
I am looking forward to seeing many of you at my 11th birthday party!
This year, instead of bringing me a present, I hope you will consider contributing to a wonderful project that I am supporting. I am trying to raise enough money so that Caravan to Class can buy school uniforms for the students in the Tedeini village school, outside of Timbuktu, Mali.
The uniforms will be made in Mali and will have the “Caravan to Class” logo. Each uniform costs approximately $8.00.
Below is a more detailed description of the project:
Caravan to Class' first project, to rebuild the educational infrastructure of the village of Tedeini, is close to completion. The students will start next year in their new 3 classroom school. Their old mud-brick classrooms, which have deteriorated due to weather, will be renovated using cement. The school well has been repaired, certified teachers have been hired, and the students – after having spent the past school year in temporary tent classrooms – are looking forward to being in permanent buildings when next year's academic term beings in September 2011.
The focus now turns to making "going to school" a routine part of the children's lives and reaching 100% attendance. As part of this focus, Mira has decided to purchase school uniforms for all the students in the school for her 11th birthday. Being able to wear brand new school uniforms will give the students, many of whom just spent their first year in organized school, a sense of pride for being in school, and will hopefully help put social pressure on some of the parents who do not send their children to school.
Caravan to Class is a registered 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to improve education in villages across Africa. The first area of focus is the villages around Timbuktu, Mali, where the nomadic Tuareg have only recently settled after generations of roaming the Sahara Desert in camel caravans. Despite being one of Africa's most stable democracies, having an amazing history, some of the world's most interesting cultures, and kind and hospitable people, Mali is still one of the world's most illiterate countries.
You can contribute by sending a check in any amount to:
Caravan to Class
Hoffner Charitable Foundation
Reference: Mira Welner
181 San Carlos Ave
Sausalito, CA 94965
THANK YOU!
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