Vassar Haiti Project

For VHP volunteers going to Haiti this spring, fundraising will be essential in the weeks leading up to the trip. Cindy Fung ’14 explains some of the group’s plans for the coming month.

In exactly one month, we will be in Haiti. Even though we’ve already had two info sessions, the fact that we are going to be in Cap Haitien so soon was still hard to grasp until today, when we had a fundraising meeting. Our plans are finally taking shape. Working together to fundraise is challenging, a little daunting, but also very exciting. In addition to sending out letters to family and friends, we are also going to have a series of on-campus fundraisers, such as selling a home cooked lunch in the College Center, delivering flowers on Valentine’s Day, and possibly having a food and drinks booth in the Student-Faculty Basketball Game. I was most impressed with everyone’s energy in the meeting.

In 50 minutes or so we managed to turn vague ideas into concrete plans and to-do lists. With every new suggestion, someone would raise a concern or build upon it. This spontaneous check-and-balance system worked out well, and it only showed how committed everyone was in making our fundraising efforts a success. The upcoming weeks are going to hectic, but I look forward to working our way to the trip, step by step. I couldn’t be more grateful to be going with such a wonderful group of friends.