Junior OCEF

JUNIOR OCEF This past year, I heard about a wonderful organization called OCEF (Overseas China Education Foundation), which raises money from all over the nation to educate underprivileged children in China. Being both a highschool student desperate for volunteer-hours AND an empathetic second-generation Chinese immigrant, I was eager to help. I conducted a few days' worth of research, rounded up a few classmates, and together, we created a club for highschoolers branching off of the original OCEF, called Junior OCEF. The purposes of our club were this: to partake in as many as four major fundraisers a year to eventually raise enough money to put ten children through school (10 students; 12 years; $6000) to recruit new members all the while After a couple of meetings, we began fundraising with a great fervor, but not to much avail-- since we had no start-up money or sponsors, we were stuck trying to fundraise with small, cheap things like bookmarks and origami. We did succeed in raising at least SOME money to send to China -- $51.13, enough to help out one student for a year. Though the results of our inaugural year were admittedly disappointing, all of us are committed to doing better, helping more Chinese children next year. We agreed that we would work harder, seek sponsors, talk to some serious fundraising companies, try to get even more people to join, etc. With a little more support (in, well, a monetary form), Junior OCEF will go far. I'm positive.