'tis still the season!

Alright, so the holiday season has passed us all by. Many of the high school and college students are back in school or will be soon, the work load will soon get rather heavy and (perhaps most importantly :P) we all have Credo 2008 to look forward to!

An incredibly important thing to remember about Credo is that it would not even EXIST if it were not for the generous donations of many people. Here's the fun part. You can help raise money too! It is not nearly as difficult as it sounds and EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR COUNTS. All of them. Each and every dollar goes towards helping someone get to Credo.

Here's a post from Kavi who had the terrific idea of using this as a forum to discuss ideas for fundraising...



"Live the parable of the talents!"

At the Federated Church in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, the Rev. Hamilton Throckmorton ended his sermon with a strange request: as assistants handed out $50 bills to each parishioner, he challenged them to double the money in seven weeks. The appeal, while unusual, makes a bit more sense in light of his reading from the Gospel of Matthew. During the sermon, Rev. Throckmorton told the parable of the talents, in which a rich master gives money to his servants and tells them to do good with it. Two of the servants returned with double their money, garnering the praise of their master, but the other, too scared to take a risk, buried his share and was, consequently, banished.

In keeping with the parable, Rev. Throckmorton took $40,000 (loaned to the church by donors) and challenged the church members to use their ‘talents’ to raise more money (all of which will go to charitable causes). Suddenly, parishioners were discovering gifts that they didn’t even know they had, earning money from selling crafts, soup, plane rides, motorcycle rides, and so on. You can read more about it here.

While reading this article, I couldn’t help but think of the similarities between what this church was doing and what Credo tries to do with the ‘Share the Gift’ program. With STG, students use their gifts to not only raise tuition money for themselves but for others who are in need of financial aid. It really embodies the spirit of Credo, the idea that we all have something of value that we can use to serve others.

After perusing some of the previous STG projects, where students threw special parties, performed at their church, or even had ‘practice pledge drives,’ I started to wonder what sort of ideas people may have for this year. Is anybody planning on doing something this year? This could be a good place to kick around some ideas, or maybe even collaborate with other students coming in 2008! I’d love to hear what sort of ideas are out there.

kavi


For a slightly personal touch to this story, I would have never been able to go to Credo were it not for scholarship money. This money really does go straight to Credo students. I have done two relatively successful Share the Gift projects, but the reality is that even if you send in only 5 dollars to Credo, that would add up pretty quickly! You could even find a friend or two to send in 5 each as well!

Remember, nothing is too small, but don't be afraid to think big with these projects. Any seniors in high school? Remember that a senior recital is a great place where you will have family and friends all together-people who will know and want to help you-and perhaps you could give a short presentation about Credo, what it means to you and then pass around a basket for an "offering" of sorts. I did two silent auctions/dessert evenings and both of those were pretty successful...and not nearly as much work as they sound. If anyone wants details on those, feel free to email me at nicole.gnatek@gmail.com and I will gladly give you any info you might need!

Kavi brings up another excellent point when he mentions that this really does embody the spirit of Credo. If you don't have the money to donate yourself, perhaps you have the time. It is truly amazing to see how many people love contributing to stuff like this...they really love to see youth become actively involved in helping others and promoting the arts!

-Nikki