Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation

DONATION COUNTER: $ 215.00
LAST YEAR'S TOTAL: $ 631.00

edit: I've decided to leave this post at the top of the blog so everyone can see our progress. I'm going to set a tentative deadline of January 1, 2010, but donations are never turned down even if they're tardy!

Merry Christmas, everyone! And in the spirit of the season, I want to announce that my partner in charity fundraising and I have decided once again to organize a new year's fundraising drive to support the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF). We were drawn to NYOF last year because we knew they had a great track record and that an extremely high percentage of their donations go directly into the hands of the children they serve (as opposed to administrative costs.)

NYOF has a lot of programs, but we were especially moved by their efforts to free girls from indentured servitude (click here for an article.) In a nutshell, many Nepalese families are so poor that they rent their daughters out as manual labor in order to feed the rest of the family. NYOF offers families a piglet or a goat, which they can raise for income, in return for a promise not to indenture their daughters. Allowing the girls to go to school on NYOF's dime is also part of the deal.

In the year following our first donation, NYOF has diligently kept me posted on their progress, through e-mails, newsletters, and even the occasional handwritten note. For the holidays, they sent this little gift package with crafts made by the kids. Despite the terrible economy and the massive spending we've been doing lately, I feel it's important to give at least once a year, and I think NYOF's message is one we can all get behind.

Last year we received individual donations ranging from $5 to $150, so this is something everyone can participate in! Even if you can only afford to give a little, you can be a part of the big picture. In total, we raised over $600--almost enough to free two girls from indentured servitude and support their high school education! These girls often go on to run small businesses in their village, or join NYOF to help girls in the situations they escaped. It's a cycle of giving that really works, and of which I'm proud to support

To learn how to help, e-mail me at chezpeiatgmail.com

Happy Holidays!