Seattle Pacific University's Class of 2009 isn't giving a bench for their class gift. They're giving a village.
When SPU's Senior Gift Committee learned of Agros International's project to build a village in Comitán, Chiapas, México, they knew they wanted to be a part of it.
"We talked a lot in our meeting about stewardship and what God wants you to do," said KT Barnes, chair of the Senior Gift Committee, regarding the committee's initial meeting last September. "Our attraction to the Chiapas project was that it was outwardly focused, allowing us to 'engage the culture' and be God's hands and feet in the world."
Agros International is an Iowa-based nonprofit committed to breaking the cycle of poverty for rural families in Central America and Mexico by helping them achieve land ownership and economic stability. With the help of the SPU senior gift, Agros will help build homes for 33 families of Comitán, most of them displaced by 2005's Hurricane Stanley. The project will also help house Guatemalan refugees.
The gift committee's fundraising efforts have included email blasts to seniors and their parents, a senior showcase featuring musicians from the senior class, and a cell-phone drive, in which the SPU community collected old cell phones and sent them to Phoneraiser.com, a startup that takes old cell phones for cash. Most used cell phones are worth a few bucks but Apple's iPhone fetches up to $300.
"It's truly been a community effort to support this project and is so rewarding to know that lives will be changed in Mexico because of our efforts in Seattle," Barnes said.
Because of that community support, committee recently surpassed its $2,009 fundraising goal. The committee will continue fundraising until graduation day on June 14.
The money raised will go to purchase land grants, acreage, trees, seeds and business training for the village's members.
[[In-content Ad]]
