Today, Phil Gennett and I made a donation together to MedPLUS Connect’s cervical cancer screening program. We donated as part of the Global Giving Challenge. To date, MedPLUS has raised $462 of the $5,000 we need to gain a permanent spot in the Global Giving network. This donation happens to be very special to us for many reasons. Phil and I met in 2007 when I gave a presentation with Emma Lawrence, another co-founder of MedPLUS, at a social entrepreneurship gathering about volunteer work we were doing in Ghana, then called Project HEAL. Phil was in the audience and approached us about enhancing the direction of our project to become more sustainable. After lots of long nights and countless hours pouring over our business plan, the MedPLUS model emerged. The organization really took off after Emma, Emily Nix and I won the social entrepreneurship track of the Carolina Challenge competition in 2009 and MedPLUS has been working tirelessly to support the provision of health care in rural Ghana ever since. While MedPLUS was developing, my relationship with Phil also developed and many years later we are now planning our wedding for the spring of 2014. We decided to make this donation to MedPLUS Connect in lieu of giving guests favors at our upcoming wedding. We are excited to share the MedPLUS model with all of our wedding guests, not only because it brought us together, but in large part because of how important MedPLUS Connect’s work is.
In today’s world, the amount of need can sometimes feel overwhelming. However, every contribution, no matter how small, makes an impact. However you can enable your gift, maybe by giving up lattes for a week or taking an extra babysitting job or asking your employer to match your charitable donation, we are grateful for your efforts, no matter the size. Most of all, the people in Ghana are exceedingly grateful for your gifts. Please spread the word about MedPLUS Connect and this Global Giving challenge – if we all work together, our efforts and donations of every size will amount to major positive change!
Today, Global Giving is matching all online donations of $25 or more at 15%, up to $1,000. This means that today, if you donate $100, we will receive an extra $15 from Global Giving towards our project! Today is also Giving Tuesday, a day dedicated to giving back after all of the shopping following Thanksgiving. So if you want to give back and see your donation go farther, today is the day to donate!
Here is the link to our project page: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/cancer-screening-and-treatment-for-women-in-ghana/