African Education Raffle #2

Okay, folks, there's another raffle going on for the kid's next semester of tuition here!

The picture below is Michael and Grace on their first day or high school last September. The picture to the left is of volunteer Shallee McArthur with two of the younger children in 2005.

School fees, which include room and board for the entire semester, total about $2,500 for all five kids. Any extra money we make will go to fund additional semesters. The prizes this time are of a writerly bent, so if you're interested, please click here to enter the raffle!

The RULES:

An initial donation of $5 gets you one entry in the raffle. Make a secure, tax-deductible donation to Literacy for Life here. (PLEASE PUT "Reach for the Stars" in the message line so your donation goes to the right project.)

Every additional $5 you donate gets you another entry (so if you donated $20, you would get 4 entries).

After an initial $5 donation, blogging about the raffle will get you 1 additional entry. Tweeting/Facebooking about the raffle will get you 1 additional entry (1 total, not one for each).

Fill out the form below so I can tally your raffle entries. The raffle ends February 25th.

The PRIZES:

THREE winners will be chosen by Random.org to receive one of the following prizes.

#1: A 10 page manuscript critique OR synopsis critique from freelance editor C.A. Marshall!

C.A. Marshall is a freelance editor, lit agent intern, YA writer, and loves to play with her dog Mollie. She dreams of one day owning a small house near the water, preferably in England, with a shelf full of books she has written and has helped others to write. She can be found in Emmett, MI.

#2: A critique of the first chapter of your manuscript from literary agent Sarah LaPolla at Curtis Brown!

Sarah LaPolla began at Curtis Brown in 2008, working with Dave Barbor and Peter Ginsberg. Sarah is interested in literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, science fiction, literary horror, and young adult fiction. She loves complex characters, coming-of-age stories, and strong narrators. Sarah graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Writing and English, and went on to receive her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School.

#3: A critique of the first chapter of your manuscript from me! And since I'm not nearly as cool as the other prizes, I'm throwing in a copy of the incredible book They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan.

You have a chance to help five kids gain an education to beat poverty-- AND to get some amazing critiques to help you in your own work! Thanks in advance for all your help!

Update-- The children are in school!

Thank you so much to everyone who donated to the Reach for the Stars fund! The children are in their first semester of high school, and the director of New Life says they are happy and grateful.

Thank you again!

Thank You!

I just wanted to give a shout out and a thank you to Gayle and Godwin at G is for Ghana for their help at publicizing our raffle! Definitely check out their site, they've got some great information about Ghana.

The Raffle Winners!

Okay, folks, the raffle is over! I had Random.org pick the winners, and here they are:

Prize Pack 1 goes to Emily!

Prize Pack 2 goes to Kristine!

Prize Pack 3 goes to Michelle!

We were able to raise $230 thanks to everyone's generosity. We've still got a ways to go, but it's a start!

Winners, I'll be contacting you in the next few days. Prizes will be mailed out next week, as I will be out of town until then. Everyone who donated will receive a thank you letter.

Thanks again, everyone!

Five for Five

What have you spent five dollars on lately?

I've spent it on a new book. A lunch salad from Bajio's. The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles DVD.

I shell out five dollars or more quite regularly for the things I want. I'm lucky to have that five dollars to spend. Sometimes I feel incredibly poor, like the months when we barely make rent. It's the life of a student family, I suppose. But I still spend that five dollars at least once a week without thinking, because it's really not that much to me.

I'm guessing it's really not that much to you either.

To these five kids from Ghana, five dollars can pull them out of slavery. The slavery of poverty, of a life where they can earn five dollars in a whole week. The education that will give them freedom only costs about $5,000. If a thousand people gave five dollars, that's all we'd need.
Five dollars isn't that much. And a thousand people is less than the number of kids that went to my high school.

Can you give $5, and make a sandwich for lunch tomorrow instead of going to McDonald's? Can you be one of one thousand? Can you tweet or Facebook your friends to add to that one thousand?

Wherever you're at in life, I bet you make more than $5 a week. I bet you could do those things.
Five dollars for five kids. It's really not that much. Make a tax-deductible donation now through our raffle, and you can even have a shot at getting something out of it.

What will you spend five bucks on today?

Raffle for Education!

NOTE: The raffle has now been extended through July 31st!

Okay, folks, we are holding a fundraising raffle to help the Star Kids reach their dreams of high school!

The Rules:

A donation of $5 gets you a virtual raffle ticket. Donate through PayPal (see sidebar) or by check. (All donations are tax-deductible through Literacy for Life, an official 501(c)3 organization.)

Every additional donation of $5 gets you another virtual raffle ticket.

After an initial donation of $5 for your first ticket, you can help us spread the word and get an additional raffle ticket for each of the following:

• Blogging about the raffle
• Posting a button on your website/blog
• Tweeting about the raffle
• Facebooking about the raffle

Leave a comment on this post saying you entered the raffle (you don't have to say how much you donated) so we can check our donation records for your name, and provide links to your blog post/tweet/Facebook so we can verify your additional tickets. You can also do this by email to shallee.mcarthur[at]gmail[dot]com.

The raffle ends on July 31st! Three winners will be selected by using random.org (each person is eligible to win only one prize).

The Prizes:

All prizes are authentic handmade items from Ghana.

#1: Handwoven kente scarf; bead bracelet; bead and seed necklace.

#2: Handwoven kente scarf; bead bracelet; bead and shell necklace
#3: Handmade batik coin purse; bead necklace; bead bracelet; hand carved wooden necklace

Help the Star Kids Reach Their Dreams

Five kids. One dream.

All they want is to go to high school.

Believe it or not, high school is not a given in Ghana, West Africa. Because all high schools are private, they are expensive, and many children never have the opportunity to progress beyond junior high-- if they get that far at all.

At New Life International Children's Home, dedicated Ghanaians have given everything to ensure the most vulnerable children have a home and a basic education. However, in order to send the oldest children to high school, they need your help.

Daniel, Michael, Grace, Abraham, and Joseph-- the Star Kids-- are excited to take the next step that could change their lives.

Are you ready to take a step to help them achieve that? Whether you sponsor one of them completely for a year, give five dollars, or post our button on your blog to spread the word, you're helping. And all these five kids need is just a little help so they can Reach for the Stars.