You can donate to the Argentine poor!

Dear Family and Friends,

 

In June of this year I accepted a three-month internship in Argentina through the Foundation for Sustainable Development (www.fsdinternational.org).  I am very interested in international microfinance/microenterprise and felt hands on experience within the field was essential.  I also welcomed the opportunity to travel abroad and strengthen my Spanish skills. 

 

I am currently living in La Plata, Argentina (about an hour outside of Buenos Aires) and working in a “comedor” which is a combination of a soup kitchen and community forum.  My primary responsibility is to work with a Panadería or bread bakery cooperative they are trying to implement.  Due to some delays in the bakery project I have also spent significant time with the soup kitchen. 

 

I am writing to ask for your help in raising funds for a project I am working on.  The soup kitchen lacks many basic cooking utensils that you couldn’t imagine cooking without.  A donation of just $5 to $20 would go a long way in helping these people purchase supplies they desperately need.  Donations will be used to purchase items such as:

 

• Cooking utensils
  • Knives
  • Cutting Boards
  • Stirring spoons
• Cloth products
  • Wash clothes
  • Towels
  • Aprons
  • Table clothes

 

• Cleaning Supplies
  • Soap
  • Disinfectant
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Steel wool
  • Sponges
• Tables
• Shelves
• Storage containers

If you are willing to donate, please see instructions below for mailing your donations, or paying online through PayPal.  Please send your donation by Friday, August 22, 2008 so that there is plenty of time for the FSD office to process the donations and get to me so I can make the needed purchases in Argentina.  As FSD is a 501(c)(3) all donations are 100 percent tax deductible.  The women of the comedor and I truly would appreciate your donation.

 

For more information on the specific projects I am working on, or the people I am working with, please feel free to contact me, I would love to share.  I am also keeping a blog (www.jacquelynk.wordpress.com) that has stories and pictures of both my work and life while living in Argentina.  Though I am enjoying my experience and learning a lot, I look forward to returning to the United States in September.

 

With love,

 

 

Jackie Koehler

 

 

CHECKS:  Make checks payable to ¨FSD International¨, please contact me for address to send checks.

Please write ¨Argentina – Jacquelyn Koehler¨ in the notes so that the money goes towards my project.

 

INTERNET via PayPal (you will need a PayPal account to complete the transaction – FSD keeps 5% of PayPal donations for processing expenses):            

Visit www.fsdinternational.org and click on ¨Donate¨ in the left column.  Scroll to bottom page and under ¨Project Development and Capacity Building Fund¨ click on ¨Donate¨  This will take you to a page where you can sign in to PayPal or sign up for an account.  Once you have logged in you can make a donation.  Make sure to in the notes to include ¨Argentina – Jacquelyn Koehler¨ to make sure that the money makes it to my project.