Don't Be Afraid to Ask

How many people have not seen the world simply because they didn't think they had the money? Thousands? Probably millions. It would have been so easy for our family to join in those numbers as our son proposed the idea to be a foreign exchange student over two years ago. While we have been blessed with good middle income jobs, there is not extra money for a 10 month stay in a European country for an 18 year old.

I am here to encourage those of you who doubt you can do it. First of all, have determination that you and your family will reach your goal. What is your goal? Let's suppose it's to get your student or even yourself overseas. How will you do it? By asking for help. You say you're shy? Be courageous. You don't know how to go about it? Get help. Not sure where to look? "Google it."

In our case, we started by searching the internet and finding sample appeal/solicitation letters. Then we determined what our financial need was--we estimated that amount at $10,000. We then established what we could afford to begin the fundraising efforts. As parents we committed to an original $1,000 then later upped that $2,000 as we realized we were simply paying for unexpected incidentals and needed to account for that. The Rotarians and we, as parents, agreed that our son also needed to invest in this trip. So we had him commit to donating $1,000 as he worked his part-time job.

With the appeal letter composed, we sent it out in December to over 120 family and friends including many at our church where Aaron is very active. At this time we also set up a gofundme account to help those who might want to use credit cards. You can check it out at gofundme.com/aarons_exchange. Although only 2-3 people actually made donations using the online fundraising site, we continued to use it to post our offline donations so we, along with others, could monitor the progress towards our goal.

At first the donation came in pretty steady for 4-8 weeks. Then they became less frequent, but individuals would remind us that they were planning to give. We also redirected our efforts at this time to a few local businesses and civic organizations. For example, we asked our employers and friends who own businesses if they could donate. Most did. The Rotary Club of Fort Wayne is sponsoring Aaron and donated a scholarship. Even our New Haven Lions Club hosted a Chicken Dinner Fundraiser for Aaron. They gave us the opportunity to sell "pre-sale tickets" to our friends and family. Some "cashed in" their tickets by getting dinners, while others (like Rotary members) simply bought the tickets out of kindness to put the money towards Aaron's trip.

Greg Solon, Rotary Member, presents Aaron with Youth Exchange Scholarship.

Now as we get closer to the day of departure we are refocusing again and asking for help with in-kind donations. Such as, Aaron already got the local optician to donate a pair of frames and lenses for him to have as a back up pair of eyeglasses as recommended by the trip organizers. By relationships through the Rotary Club members, we have also have just received word that the local travel bureau will donate 100 trading pins, and a former state representative gave us connections where to get Indiana state flag pins for trading. Aaron expects to ask a few local businesses for t-shirts with "Fort Wayne," "New Haven," and "Indiana" on them to trade with other youth.

As you can see, it takes a quite a bit of time and energy to pull this off. However, the pay off is not just the money. As parents we have been truly humbled by the outpouring. For you see, every time someone gave, they gave us a confidence vote in our son. Truly, there were times when the donations left us speechless. Whether is was a donation that came in much larger than we expected, or if it was a small donation from a friend we knew to be on a very limited income, we were grateful. We still are.

So, if you are considering how you might ever manage to travel overseas, remember what someone, somewhere once told you: "It never hurts to ask." If you have a circle of potential supporters, a bit of bravery, and are not easily impacted by the occasional rebuff, you'll be on your way in only a few short months.

 (Image attribution to: http://www.powerofpositivity.com/positive-affirmations/)