Big News!

So thanks to some very generous donors, we've raised another $1000! Which gives us a total of over $1700! We're very excited, and are looking into several more schools we can visit during our time there, including in Uganda and Somalia.

We're only 8 days away from our flight to South Africa. We're buying medical insurance, copying our passports, and doing everything else possible to be prepared! Today, Kathy and her nieces got paper bags to decorate, so the kids have a nice gift basket for their supplies.

17 Days and Counting

Hey guys!

So far, we've raised $685.90! Which means that we're almost halfway to reaching our goal! A big thanks to everyone who's helped us so far. You're donations are what makes this trip possible.

In other news, we're being interviewed this week for a write-up in the Cincinnati Enquirer. This should give our cause some great publicity and is very exciting. When the article is published, we'll be sure to post it here for you all to see!

Also, just so everyone is in the loop, we have a Facebook page named Soccer Balls for Africa that you can follow, as well as a Twitter account - SoccerForAfrica. You can follow us through all three for maximum coverage!

Just 17 days and counting before we leave for Jo'Burg!

Updates!

It's about time to update everyone on the progress we've made so far in our efforts. We recently held a bake sale at Xavier University, and raised $197! We're now that much closer to reaching our goal.

We've recently undergone a change in ideology. Rather than attempting to visit as many schools as possible, we are now focusing on providing the more aid to fewer schools. While we'd love to visit as many schools as we can, the funds are just not there! So we want to make sure we can do as much as we can for each school.

In addition to our original plan to distribute soccer balls, we are now planning to organize class sets of supplies for each student, including pens, notebooks, chalk and toothbrushes. Also, we now hope to spend up to a week with each school, building a more meaningful relationship with students, teachers and parents. We hope to maintain a long-term relationship with each school.

Our fundraising plans for the next month before we leave are several church fundraisers. We are also looking into a pretty unique fundraising idea. We may buy teddy bears, and sell them to families who can then decorate the teddy bears in any way they like. Afterwards, they'll give the teddy bears back to us and we'll bring them to children in the schools! If anyone has ideas or would like to contribute, let us know in the comments section! Any advice is good advice! Well, maybe not any. But you get the idea!

We're just a month out, but there is so much left to do! We will make sure to keep you all posted!