Change of Plans

More indecisiveness... very frustrating, but just part of the process. So now, the options are Kenya, Egypt or somewhere in Canada. The plan is to decide in the place in the next couple of weeks, but for this project, this seriously stinks. I can't give the letter to people/stores without writing where we're going as this would have an affect on the donors' contributions. For example, if we decide to go to Kenya or Egypt, the costs would be much higher and the resources we would need would be different than if we were to stay in Canada, where the costs would be less. The cost of the trip is a bug factor in the donations, so I'm hoping to sort all that out before I begin with the letter.

On the bright side, I realized that although though the Bible course passion project ends at the end of January, my personal project of raising $10,000 can extend till the actual time of the trip! This point made me quite happy and made me feel less like a failure... but when May comes and I still haven't done much, that would be bad. Hopefully that won't happen!    

Hype

It's almost time to start going store-to-store/door-to-door, and I'm pretty excited! I'm really hoping people start feeling generous around this time of year... holidays, right?! :D I think that once I receive any sort of donation we'll start rolling and then in no time, I'll have a decent amount fundraised. Altogether I'm pumped for this! 

Every Penny Counts

It's already November, meaning I only have 3 months left. That means about $3000 each month... hmm... sounds tough, but I think it's honestly doable. sure, it'll take A LOT of luck and being at the right place at the right time, but hey, its not impossible. Yes, I know that I said I don't actually expect to raise $10,000 but its possible. Anything is possible. In fact, it's also possible that I won't make over $1000... but I know one thing... every penny counts (or is it "nickel" now because we no longer have a penny?). Seriously though, this is money to help the less fortunate and it doesn't take much to help someone who's got nothing. 

Ready

Website is done, letter is basically finished which means one thing... it's time to get going! I feel ready now to start going to stores and asking for donations. Hopefully, everything will be alright and the managers will feel generous because there is now way I'm raising $10,000 without some significant contributions from the big-name stores like costco and sobey's, etc. Mario has been helping a lot which is awesome, and just having someone to work with you on a project like this is EXTREMELY helpful. Like seriously. I really don't think these stores are going to donate much (if any) but God-willing, I hope that at some point I'll strike gold from a store or two! I mean it really is a great cause. They're not helping me, they're helping the needy, and that's a point I'm trying to stress on in my fundraising letter. Helping others is often in people's nature and I hope that this will be a big factor in contributing to this project. Business-wise, its not helpful for any of these stores to give any money to any cause so I won't be offended if they decide not to donate to a random eleventh grader working on a project. Really... I get it.  

Motivation

I use this list of facts to motivate me to seriously start doing something for others. This project is a good start, I hope.

Website!

The website is now "finished" (only missing a link to a paypal account so people can actually donate ... but pfft who needs that anyways, right? Just kidding, I'll have that done as soon as I can). For now, it explains our mission and who we are!

Here is the link: http://baher1997.wix.com/missiontrip

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

My passion project is raising $10,000 (yikes) for a mission trip to Africa in May. Ambitious, yes, but in all honesty, I really don't expect to raise that much. My rationale was that if my goal is low, and I achieve it, I'll most probably just stop there, feeling satisfied. So anyways, here we go...

Well, we're two weeks in, and I've raised a grand total of ... wait for it ... (can I get a drum roll please?) ... ZERO dollars. Yes, $0. Zerooooooooooo (I mean I guess its only 3 more zero's and a 1 away from my goal, that's not bad, right?). The problem is actually getting started. I have ideas of what I want to do but every time I actually get close to starting, excuse after excuse pops up. One of the biggest ones is that we still haven't decided where the mission trip will be yet. At first, we thought Kenya was the place to go, but after talking to some people it became obvious that 1: Kenya may not be safe at the moment, and 2: Kenya already has so many organizations working there, and other places would benefit more from a mission trip. So my excuse is this: how can I tell people to donate to a mission trip that hasn't even been booked yet? Technically, till now, it's theoretical, so why would anyone actually donate? It would obviously be more ideal to tell them where the mission trip is to, and who their money is going to affect. Nonetheless, I do know that if I organized, say, a bake sale, people would donate money anyways. Really, that one excuse is all my excuses, but my excuses stem from my shyness.

I'm too shy to actually get started, so I find excuses. I've always been shy when talking to strangers and quite awkward at times too. I'm worried that I won't be able to say anything when people ask questions. I could barely sell 30 boxes of chocolate almonds without the help of my cousin, so how am I going to raise $10,000? My solution is to recruit friends, and recruit them fast. I've got about 3 people who said they'd be willing to help, which is awesome and encouraging. This week, I actually hope to get started. I feel like once I've started, it'll be much easier to keep it up, so here we go, I guess. My first, simple idea is to make a website for donations and also explaining the mission trip (gee, wouldn't it be nice the know where we're going...) and asking people for any small (or big) donations.  

P.s. If you have ANY ideas for good fundraising events/techniques, PLEAAAASSSEEE comment them :) Also, if you want to help out (DO IT) let me know! Thanks!!