About: Be The Change Volunteers (BTCV) is a development aid non-profit with a mission to improve education opportunities worldwide. This is done through infrastructure, equipping and training for project partners. We operate primarily in developing-world countries serving remote communities with a demonstrated need for educational facilities. Our organization is unique because we do not only send funding to these communities, we go as a team of self-funded volunteers who are willing to work as partners with the local community to provide sustainable solutions. More about BTCV...
2018 YEAR END FUNDRAISER
$10,000 in matching gifts AVAILABLE!
Click to support 4 key projects below
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Thank you so much for taking the time to learn more about our year-end fundraiser! We have a $10,000 matching gift available from an anonymous donor! When you give today, your gift will be matched dollar for dollar! This means we canraise $20,000 through this amazing opportunity! Now thru December 31st. The funds from this year-end fundraiser will go directly to benefit 4 key project needs for 2019.
Bathrooms in Uganda: This school serves over 300 students, many of whom are orphans that live at the school. Currently, they do not have adequate bathroom facilities to support the student population, even to the very minimum standards. And, did you know that quality, separate girls and boys bathrooms at a school correlate directly to improved attendance, improved grades, and improved performance on national exams? Your gift will ensure that we can build great bathrooms for these deserving kids and improve their education and their futures!
Student Scholarships: Our BTCV Kids program is one of the most direct ways to have a life-changing impact on a student. There is strong data that shows when a student does not have to worry about staying in school for financial reasons that their performance greatly improves. We see this year after year through the BTCV Kids Student Scholarship program. If we reach the $20K mark, we can expand this program even further.
Sustainability Endowment Fund: BTCV requires all project partners to run sustainable schools. We hold ourselves to that same standard, and so we established the Sustainability Endowment Fund. This investment fund is overseen by financial professionals and the purpose is to allow BTCV to one day cover all operating expenses with the interest generated on this investment. Adding to this fund through the year-end fundraiser gets us closer to our goal of complete self-sustainability.
School Wall Rwanda: There are many reasons that this structure will benefit the school in Rwanda. The most important reasons are school safety, a quieter and less interrupted learning environment, and an established perimeter for maintaining school grounds. Your support will help put this needed piece of infrastructure in place.
Bathrooms in Uganda: This school serves over 300 students, many of whom are orphans that live at the school. Currently, they do not have adequate bathroom facilities to support the student population, even to the very minimum standards. And, did you know that quality, separate girls and boys bathrooms at a school correlate directly to improved attendance, improved grades, and improved performance on national exams? Your gift will ensure that we can build great bathrooms for these deserving kids and improve their education and their futures!
Student Scholarships: Our BTCV Kids program is one of the most direct ways to have a life-changing impact on a student. There is strong data that shows when a student does not have to worry about staying in school for financial reasons that their performance greatly improves. We see this year after year through the BTCV Kids Student Scholarship program. If we reach the $20K mark, we can expand this program even further.
Sustainability Endowment Fund: BTCV requires all project partners to run sustainable schools. We hold ourselves to that same standard, and so we established the Sustainability Endowment Fund. This investment fund is overseen by financial professionals and the purpose is to allow BTCV to one day cover all operating expenses with the interest generated on this investment. Adding to this fund through the year-end fundraiser gets us closer to our goal of complete self-sustainability.
School Wall Rwanda: There are many reasons that this structure will benefit the school in Rwanda. The most important reasons are school safety, a quieter and less interrupted learning environment, and an established perimeter for maintaining school grounds. Your support will help put this needed piece of infrastructure in place.
Check out This new video about Be The Change Volunteers
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- Honoring Our Son Phomotso -
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In May of 2016 Phomotso Makeke Cook, the adopted son of BTCV Co-founders Jimi and Cristi Cook, tragically passed away from a heart attack in his sleep at the age of 23.
Phomotso was an early inspiration for our "BTCV Kids" fund, a scholarship program that allows students to live out their dreams through the gift of education. He attended school at Farview (BTCV 004) in Mt. Fletcher, South Africa where he met Jimi & Cristi, telling them of his dream to be a photojournalist on the very first day he helped work on that BTCV project. His contagious smile, passion for education, and relentless pursuit of his dream instantly won the hearts of the whole BTCV team, and a little over a year later he was able to come live with Jimi and Cristi and complete his junior year of high school at Columbia Independent School (CIS) in Columbia, MO. When he returned to South Africa, he finished his senior year of high school and passed the National exams with flying colors, making him eligible for university enrollment. He applied, interviewed, presented his portfolio and was accepted by the prestigious Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in Pretoria, South Africa to study photojournalism – the chance to pursue his dream. To read more of Phomotso's story and see his portfolio Click Here. |