Last April 19, the Just A Drop Group FUNdraising project was able to reach their goal of $4500 to open a water well in Nigeria, Africa. They decided to name their water well “The Gulnur Avon Well”. Rose Bora and Michael Moyseenko bounced off ideas throughout the FUNdraising process to make sure that they’ll successfully provide easy access to clean water for thousands of people in Africa.
Before starting the fundraiser, Ms. Bora spoke to several local businesses and the mayor about her project. She wanted to get a sense of whether she could raise this amount of money instead of jumping in blind. She and Mr. Moyseenko made a game plan for how the money was going to be raised. They discussed raffling off gift cards that local businesses would have donated to the project at school. She then later went on and reached out to multiple businesses and people in order to begin the raffle and other events. After that, she also set up a Dine-to-Donate at Chipotle and began to advertise it. She also spoke with their school’s communications lead and had her story sent out to multiple news networks. She got picked up and two articles, 1 newspaper, and 2 news appearances took place. She also got asked to speak at a panel about the project. She also made many posters and hung them around their school and posted constantly on social media. All these advertising helped her raise the money needed for the water well project.
The donors were from everywhere. As she had multiple articles and videos out about her project, she had people from all over the community donating. A good chunk of the money was donated from the Turkish community in Chicago and in Cleveland. Some were also from school, family, and friends.
It was not as challenging as she expected to reach her FUNdraising’s goal. She was shocked at how easy it was. She was especially surprised at how much her community and the Turkish people donated. However, the beginning was harder than the end as rejection was constant and it was hard to stay motivated throughout when collecting money.
She was extremely happy and relieved when she reached her goal. It brings her joy that a community in Africa is now going to be hydrated. She cannot wait to see all the pictures and videos of the kids. “It honestly feels unreal as this journey has been the one that has taught me an immense amount of social skills, patience, and appreciation for what I have.”, Rose Bora shared.
In addition, Rose Bora said “The most memorable and rewarding part of this experience is the inspiration I brought to other youth, the awareness I brought to the different water conditions around the world, and all the things I have learned from this experience. I have inspired people to begin their own fundraising journeys through my panels and articles. I also have brought awareness to the water issue that many people are going through. It isn’t just Africa that has difficulty retrieving water, there are tons of other countries and places that need water just as much. It is heartbreaking and I hope the inspired youth will help diminish these struggles by opening their own group fundraisers. I also have learned an immense amount of information. I am incredibly humble for my situation, family, and water source. I also have learned a crazy amount of social skills during this process. Being able to effectively ask people for money without sounding greedy is harder than it sounds. It has also taught me to be patient and that money cannot be made from thin air, it takes time for it to come in and that is okay.”
