As a “poor, starving college student” I recognize how hard it is to separate yourself from your money. When I think about each of the bills I have in my wallet (or rather, in bag I am currently storing my American cash in my suitcase), I place a tangible value on each of them.
$1.00 could buy me an Erin Baker Breakfast Cookie as a mid-day snack on campus.
Or it can buy about 25 bricks in Uganda.
$5.00 could buy me a 12oz non-fat vanilla latté and a snack to keep me going late at the library.
Or it can purchase two strips of gutter for rain collection.
$10.00 could buy me either a Jumbo potato burrito with a happy hour drink at Casa Que Pasa or a Big Mama at Jalapeños.
Or it can purchase either a bag of cement or a sheet of iron roofing.
$20.00 could take Dan and me to the movies on a date.
Or it can purchase a bag of sand.
$50.00 could pay for my cable and electricity bills.
Or it can purchase all the ventilators for the dormitory.
$100.00 could buy a textbook or a one day park hopper pass to Disneyland or fill the tank of an SUV.
Or it can buy 5 rolls of pyres [a type of wood].
$500.00 could pay a month’s rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Bellingham.
Or it can pay for 5 triple bunk beds which would sleep 15 needy children.
$1,000.00 paid for 10 weeks of housing, food, and transportation for my trip this summer.
It can also pay for all the labor needed to construct the dormitory, 3 metal doors, and even 20 boxes of assorted nails.
I wish I had $16,000 sitting in a bank account somewhere just waiting to be spent on a good cause. Instead, I have thousands of dollars in student loans waiting for me to get a job and pay them off.
I can contribute my time, energy, and small amounts of latté money to construct the dormitory.
I just cannot do it alone.
I am asking as your colleague, sister, daughter, niece, cousin, and friend. Please help me bring a place of shelter and security for these children.
Even $1.00 can build this dream.
25 bricks at a time.
With love and appreciation,
Kristen
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