What: My plan, considering the last one came to an abrupt end, is to get at least one graduating inner city student an associates scholarship to my local community college who would not otherwise, for any number of possible reasons, be able to acquire the money needed to go.
Why: If you have read any of my last posts the answer to this question should come as no surprise. I believe that a poor education (and by poor I mean "lack of continued") is the source for so many other problems within my community that it only made sense to me to try and resolve this in any way that I could. Also, I just don't want to talk about a plan, I would like to put it into action and have at least one success by the time these 30 days are up. It would give me something to point potential investors too.
Who: There will be 5 major players in this plan - 5 people that I will need to get in contact with and negotiate with if this plan is to succeed. They are:
The School - In this trial I will be choosing my local Community College. Their rates are lower which means that the expenses that I will need to cover via donations will be less.
The City School Superintendent - He will need to know what is going on in addition to giving me pointers on how to go about choosing the student at the end of the year.
The Donating Business(es) - In order to cover the expense of letting someone attend a college for free for 2 years I will be attempting to cover some of the college's other expenses by allowing local businesses who offer the services that the college requires to donate those services in order to receive a tax deduction at the end of the year. This also helps the local economy by providing a local business with a deduction that they previously would not have.
The United Way, local chapter - Since I am not a functioning NPO I will need to let someone else act at the go-between for the donating business(es) and the college. The United Way seems like a good choice for this part of the plan.
The Mayor - Not really needed but I did not want him to think I have given up on trying to help with the educational system in my area. Plus, I need a PR guy. He seems to fit the bill.
Where: Rochester, New York
When: A.S.A.P. through the end of EVOKE.
How: Companies do not do things for free anymore. One good turn deserves another. Obviously the college that I have chosen for this little trial run will want the money that they will be losing by allowing someone to attend their college for free for two years to be covered. I hope to accomplish this by allowing local businesses to donate products and/or services to the college via an NPO in order to receive a tax deduction at the end of the year (or whenever they file, I think quarterly). This way everyone wins.
I will need a Mentor who knows things about the Educational System, NPO's and probably Tax Law. I have some knowledge about these things but not enough to really feel comfortable. So if you are a mentor and you have a really good knowledge about these things please feel free to contact me.
I will probably also need some suggestions on possible problems that I might run into that I am not considering, things that I might need to change about the plan or any other suggestions you might have, so please feel free to comment.
Thank you and have a good day. I will keep you all posted on how these events are unfolding as things happen.
Power to the People!
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