Walkathon

On Saturday, April 19, nearly 1,000 students, professors and families gathered at the University of Mary Washington Campus for SHH’s 3rd annual Walkathon for Hope. SHH members from over 14 different universities flew in all the way from New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and other cities far away. Our current count is at $73,000 although the total amount raised is still being calculated with checks and donations arriving daily. Combining the America’s Giving Challenge Prize, SHH has raised a total of $138,000 for the Coppromee Women's Academy, only $12,000 left to raise in order to receive the $50,000 challenge grant from the Sunshine Lady Foundation.

On April 10, 2008, Students Helping Honduras had its first ever Open Bar Night at Rhino Bar & Pumphouse in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C. The event catered to members of the Georgetown University chapter of S.H.H. as well as alumni from other chapters living in the Washington D.C. area. The cover charge to participate in the open bar was $20, with half of all money earned going to help S.H.H.’s “Faces of the Future” scholarship fund and transitional housing project. In all, the event raised over $1000 for the cause, and a great night was had by all. S.H.H. looks forward to working with Rhino Bar & Pumphouse again in the future, and hopes to have more big events in Georgetown soon.

On March 28, 2008 Alumni from UMW and W&M hosted an open bar at Down the Hatch in New York’s Greenwich Village, inviting their friends and colleagues to celebrate Shin, Cosmo and Yapa’s visit to the City. Also in attendance were students from Columbia University and NYU. Hopefully these universities will become more involved and continue the SHH pandemic. The bar gave $10 for every bracelet that was purchased and by the end of the night they raised $400. Everyone in attendance agreed that this wouldn’t be the last NYC fundraiser for Students Helping Honduras!

On Monday, March 25, 2008, the Sunshine Lady Foundation announced its support for Students Helping Honduras in its effort to create a Women's Academy for some of Honduras' most talented and deserving young women. Specifically, Doris Buffet's foundation has challenged SHH members to raise the estimated $150,000 it will cost to fund the second, third, and fourth year of the Woman's Academy program. If they meet this goal by April 19, the Sunshine Lady Foundation will support all of the program's first year start-up costs, which SHH estimates will cost more than $52,000!  read more »

Students Helping Honduras has teamed up with Global Giving to raise more than $80,000 in just ten days at the end of January. Because of this impressive feat the two philanthropic organizations have teamed up to promote online giving and the many projects on the horizon. A film and updated information will soon appear on the Global Giving website that promotes Students Helping Honduras as proof that anything is possible.

America’s Giving Challenge, a contest sponsored by Parade Magazine and the Case Foundation, was designed to encourage the charitable use of social networking and the internet to empower individuals to fundraise for the causes they care about most. Despite entering several weeks into the competition SHH gained the support of more than 1600 individual donors in such a short period a new Global Giving record was set.  read more »

The new Hollins Chapter of SHH has hit the ground running with its first ever fundraising event, a Honduran Dinner Fest that pulled in nearly $200. More importantly the event got even more students interested in the Hollins SHH, which already has two dozen members, a sizable figure at a school of only 800.

Eva Watkins, the founder of the Hollins Chapter, has traveled twice now to Honduras and eagerly awaits her return this summer when she will bring with her a group of excited Hollins students. As a women’s college Hollins is full of female students anxious to make a difference, especially helping to empower the young women of Copprome.

Next for the Hollins Chapter are more spring fundraisers, planning the August trip to Honduras and a caravan to Fredericksburg in April for the Walkathon.

Link: Hollins  read more »

Sara A. Quinteros is proud to announce that the newest chapter of SHH is being developed at the Pennsylvania State University. Sara transferred to Penn State this year from the University of Mary Washington. She has been involved with SHH since it started three years ago and is proud to say that Penn State, thanks to the help of the Latin American Student Association (LASA) and its faculty advisor Dr. Andres Diaz, is now officially a chapter. Their first official chapter meeting will be next week. Penn State's goal for this year's Walkathon is to collect donations of school supplies and clothes for the children as well as increase membership, have officer elections and bring at least 15-20 volunteers to walk at our 3rd annual Walkathon on April 19, 2008.

Link: Penn State

On Monday, March 10, 2008 SHH was awarded the UVA Bookstore Humanitarian Award at the Service, Organization, and University Leadership (SOUL) Awards in Charlottesville, VA. This annual awards ceremony, held at the Rotunda of the University of Virginia, recognizes students and organizations that improve the University through dedicated service to the community, meaningful participation in student activities, and demonstration of outstanding leadership qualities outside of the classroom.

SHH members Laurie Paguio, Joe Pohlkamp, Valerie Hernández, and Daniel Saboe attended the reception. The Humanitarian Award, given by the Virginia Service Coalition, recognizes “the group that has a comprehensive focus on a need in Charlottesville or even one with a more global perspective. The group would exhibit a strong effort to increase awareness of the cause or issue and provide direct service to help those affected by the cause.”  read more »

Nearly forty of the finest minds SHH has to offer met at UVA for the first inter-chapter leadership summit. During the eight-hour conference, students from UVA, the University of Mary Washington, Virginia Tech, Hollins University, Georgetown University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Christopher Newport University met their counterparts at other chapters, discussed the upcoming Walkathon cause, participated in workshops, and heard from a guest speaker.  read more »

After several months of careful thought and hard work, SHH elected to dedicate this year’s Walkathon to the girls at Copprome Orphanage. This year’s Walkathon will fulfill a promise we first made two years ago when we fought to keep Copprome’s doors open in April 2006. That Walkathon gave Copprome the Sunshine Education Center, which fills many of the critical gaps in the Honduran public education system. However, the pervasive lack of collegiate opportunity in Honduras represents a shortcoming in SHH’s effort to provide these children with tools for meaningful, life-long success. Educational opportunity is one of the few priceless assets that should never be taken away from a person, and in Honduras especially can be the single most powerful way to break the cycle of poverty.  read more »