BZOD EDIT, 6:32 PM, 11/3/11: The number to which text donations should be sent, below was previously listed as 8088. This was an error; the actual number is 80088. The change has been made below. That is, text “Give 8954” to 80088 to donate $10 to SHOFCO. Original post below:
SHOFCO (Shining Hope for Communities, founded and run by Kennedy Odede ’12, for those of you who don’t know) is a finalist in the The Girl Effect Challenge, for which they have until November 15 to participate. Donation from lots of people can help SHOFCO win (they need the most unique donors) Go to this website to donate! Your donation could help SHOFCO win thousands of dollars. You can also text “Give 8954” to 80088 to donate $10. For more information on SHOFCO’s mission or the challenge in general, read past the jump:
SHOFCO-Wesleyan needs your help! Shining Hope is a finalist in the The Girl Effect Challenge, sponsored by Globalgiving.org. We have until November 15th to participate. If we win, we’ll be a featured organization on the Girl Effect’s Globalgiving homepage, and will receive a portion of the money raised for one calendar year through the page. So how can you help? Donate to SHOFCO through this website: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/shofcogirls. SHOFCO needs the MOST UNIQUE DONORS to win. This means that the amount of money does not matter (you can donate as little as $10), but SHOFCO needs as many people to make donations as possible. Every donation gets us closer to winning–and improving the lives of the students at the Kibera School for Girls and thousands of girls throughout Kibera.
In addition, you have the ability to use TEXT donations for the Girl Effect! To donate $10 to Shining Hope’s project for the Girl Effect Challenge, text ‘Give 8954’ to 80088. That’s Give (space) 8954, to phone number 80088. All the money goes straight to our work– globalgiving.org covers all the fees!
For those of you who want to know more information about Shining Hope for Communities before you donate, here is what we’re all about: Shining Hope is changing the lives of thousands of girls and women in the Kibera slum of Nairobi. The money from this challenge will go towards our ‘Shining Girls of Kibera,’ an initiative that gives adolescent girls the training and resources they need to be economically self-sufficient–enabling them to become the engines of prosperity and social change for their community! We support them through a holistic program of entrepreneurship and vocational training, sexual health education, artistic opportunities, and more.
$10 allows one girl to attend a 3-month vocational training course (course materials, books, and teacher’s fees)
$50 provides a girl’s primary health care for 1 year at our clinic
$150 covers the cost of an emergency fistula operation in the event of sexual violence
In Kibera, 66% of girls have to trade their bodies for food–some as early as age 6. The girls in our Shining Girls program are already 80% less likely to be victims of sexual abuse than their peers. Our holistic approach has successfully raised standards of living, improved health indicators, increased household incomes, and decreased under-five mortality, malnutrition and instances of gender violence. With your help, we can provide these services to hundreds more girls in the Kibera slum!
As an organization started by Wesleyan students, we all have a connection to Shining Hope. Wesleyan, please help us win this challenge by donating today. SHOFCO appreciates your support!
phone number is 80088, not 8088.