The Alzar School is feeling very humbled at the moment. On May 1st, our Board of Directors worked very hard to invite their friends and family to a free fundraiser breakfast. The main purpose of the event was to tell people about our mission of developing and educating teen leaders, and to ask those who supported our mission to contribute financially.
The event was hosted at the BEAUTIFUL Microsoft Conference Room, overlooking downtown Boise. There were 100 seats in the facility, and every one was taken (with several of our former students volunteering to stand around the outside of the room). There were people from all walks of life there... folks who were interested in the program for their kids, outdoor professionals, environmental advocates, business people, you name it. There was a great community feel to the whole morning, as Alzar students welcomed people to the breakfast and performed some music, as well as the fact that we had excellent donated food and coffee.
Kristin and I gave a short presentation about the school that included testimonials from both our US students and Chilean scholarship recipients. We described our long-term vision of making the Alzar School tuition-free, and explained how our leaders would go out and tackle social and environmental problems.
Our Board decided to instigate "Classes" of donors, with people who donate this year being a member of our "Founding Class." Donors could choose to donate at a number of levels, ranging from "Pupil" to "Valedictorian." And, they could pledge support for multiple years.
In the end, we were humbled because a huge number of the folks who gave up part of their Saturday to come learn about us chose to help us financially, and many pledged support for multiple years. We were able to raise more than $10,300, making a FANTASTIC first stride towards our dream of financial stability and viability. It allows us to continue to offer our programs at heavily subsidized low tuition rates. And it reminded us how if we can spread the word about our mission, other people will support the idea of creating the next generation of leaders to make the world a better place.
A giant thanks must go out to our volunteer Board of Directors, who made this event possible. And, of course, we owe a lot to our sponsors, who made the event pleasant and fun:
Microsoft
Brown Box Organics
Grasmick Produce
Costco
Fred Meyers
Big City Coffee
We will likely have many more fundraiser events in order to achieve our vision of becoming tuition free, but I think I will always remember this one as the first stride we took in really getting public support for our programs. Thanks again!
