Tobey Finkelstein fundraising for Buck for a Buck: Match for Jyotidaya School, Nepal

300 students from Jyotidaya School & Ullens Schools in Nepal are collecting Rupee 1 a day to help us complete Jyotidaya. Join the Movement.
Jyotidaya Cooperative School, Chapagaun, Lalitpur
Jyotidaya School in Chapagaun is Nepal’s only community-run cooperative school. It is neither a private nor government-supported School. Its mission of the school is to provide quality and affordable education to children who do not have access to private schools. Jyotidaya currently serves 285 students from low-income families. Nearly 60% of the families served by the school live on about $1.25 per person per day. Managed by local young people, tuition and fees are almost 60% less than comparable private schools. At Jyotidaya, 1 in 7 children – mostly orphans and from very poor families – study for free. Over the last five years, the school has graduated 100% of its students (compared to the national average of 40-60%). Many of the alumni continue on to higher education.
That’s why this school is SO IMPORTANT!
It’s a Green School
To accommodate the growing education needs of these children, Jyotidaya School, in partnership with Sarvodaya– a nonprofit organization – has embarked on an ambitious project to construct new school facilities. The construction, which began in January 2011, uses mostly local and sustainable materials, thus becoming one of the major green school projects in Nepal. Foundation stones were laid after Sarvodaya won major funding in the Chase Community Giving campaign on Facebook. Thousands of students in Nepal and around the world voted to support Jyotidaya School. The project had the fifth highest vote total of more than 50,000 nonprofits. As of today, the new building has its outer structure complete. Now the school needs final finishing including doors, windows, plaster and paints. An estimated Rs. 2,100,000 (~$30,000) is required for the building to be ready for occupancy. If we can exceed that total, students will have not only a healthy, safe place to learn; they will have the supplies to maintain their excellent academic record.
Buck for A Buck Campaign
To complete this important first stage of work, Sarvodaya USA has launched an international fundraising campaign with the support of Jyotidaya and Ullens School students in Kathmandu. On December 23, 2011 students from grades 5 to 10 at both schools met at Ullens School to build and decorate their piggy banks. About 250 students from the two schools came together. The students are now saving Rs. 1 a day until March 31, 2012. Each of these piggy banks are available online (www.ilike2give.org). Our goal is to find 300 individuals who will commit to match the students’ savings and thus raise about $30,000.