22-Year-Old CrowdRise Ambassador Launches 24-Hour Fundraising Campaign to Provide Life-Changing Vision Services for 1,400 students in Cambodia
Latest CrowdRise 24-Hour Impact Project sends humanitarian photographer to address extreme lack of eye care at impoverished Cambodian school
DETROIT, November 9, 2015 – Today CrowdRise launched the latest installment of its rapidly developing 24-Hour Impact Project by sending 22-year-old humanitarian photographer, Malu Veltze, to Cambodia with the goal of crowdfunding $20,000 in just 24-hours to help students get eye care at a school serving 12 rural villages in Koh Bei Riel near Siem Reap, Cambodia. Once the money is raised, Malu will spend the next 24 hours working tirelessly to get eye exams and glasses to 1,400 children and their families. Malu will film the entire process so CrowdRise donors can see the real-time impact of their donations.
The campaign was inspired by Channa, a girl whose poor eyesight caused her to drop out of school in the sixth grade. Left untreated, her eyes worsened and now, at 19 years old, Channa is almost blind in her right eye. Channa’s problems could have been prevented with a simple pair of glasses, costing around $40 in her village, but she couldn’t afford it. A local optometrist informed Malu that getting Channa appropriate glasses could help improve her eyesight 40%.
Channa is a former student at the Self Help Community Centre (SHCC), a registered Non Government Organization (NGO) that provides educational and vocational opportunities to disadvantaged children and young adults in the area. Despite incredible efforts to provide sustainable development through education, there is an enormous lack of eye care and as a result, many of the students suffer from debilitating vision impairment. When Malu was introduced to the other students at the school, it became clear that the issue extended beyond just Channa and that the fundraising campaign needed to include the entire community.
Malu is a photographer who has been traveling the world in search of compelling stories to share through her lens. As a professional photographer, vision is incredibly important to her. “The inability to see properly has drastically hurt these kids¹ ability to succeed in their program,” notes Malu, “Proper vision enables kids to learn, adults to work, and can help lift people out of poverty.”
As a native of Bolivia, Malu has experienced poverty first hand. After moving to America and receiving a college degree, she felt it was her duty to use her experience for good, “My love for connecting people, sharing stories, and helping others was my definition of the American Dream.”
Malu’s dedication has made her a perfect partner for CrowdRise. “We launched the CrowdRise 24-Hour Impact Project to inspire the CrowdRise community to drive real-time change plus show the results and impact of their work. Malu’s passion and relentless drive to help people is an exact reflection of our larger vision and we’re so psyched to have the opportunity to genuinely change so many kids’ lives,” said Robert Wolfe, CrowdRise co-founder and CEO.
The $20,000 raised will support eye-exams, prescription fulfillment, and surgical procedures (when necessary) for the community. Eyewear brand SEE has partnered with CrowdRise on this project by providing 150 eyeglasses and 500 frames to help support the gift of sight.
“We are thrilled to partner with Malu and Crowdrise on this project,” commented SEE’s VP of Marketing, Susan Berryman. “Quality eye care is sometimes taken for granted, and to be able to help by donating glasses is incredibly exciting for SEE.”
If Malu’s goal is exceeded, any extra funds will support education supplies for the school.
To learn more about the project, see Malu’s inspiring video on the ground in Cambodia and, most importantly, to support the cause visit: https://www.crowdrise.com/86402secondsincambodia.
About CrowdRise
CrowdRise is the world’s largest and fastest growing online platform dedicated exclusively to charitable fundraising. CrowdRise is used by millions of individuals, tens of thousands of charities, hundreds of companies and many of the most famous artists and athletes in the world to creatively leverage their resources and networks to unlock the power of the crowd and raise hundreds of millions of dollars to support positive social missions.
Founded by actor Edward Norton, film producer Shauna Robertson and Robert and Jeffrey Wolfe, CrowdRise has conceived, implemented and powered campaigns that have raised over $250 million to date. For more information visit www.CrowdRise.com.
About the CrowdRise 24-Hour Impact Project
The CrowdRise 24-Hour Impact Project was developed in partnership with Mallory Brown, social entrepreneur and founder of World’s Clothesline, to demonstrate the incredible power that real-time impact and crowdfunding can give to an individual trying to make change in the world.
CrowdRise ambassadors are selected to find an important cause and in just 24 hours raise the funds to make a change. They then spend the following 24 hours implementing that change. All activity is filmed in real time and video updates are posted so that donors can see the immediate result of their contributions. So far, these projects have raised nearly $100,000 for charitable causes. Specifically they’ve built a community center in Mexico, secured a home for a family in Haiti, helped expand sanitation efforts in Nepal, provided a permanent home to a BBQ for the homeless in Detroit, and funded life-changing surgeries for three kids in Honduras. To see all the 24 HOUR IMPACT PROJECTS, visit www.crowdrise.com/impactproject.
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