#eaprep

I wouldn’t write this on my personal blog unless if I truly care about these kiddos! Amplify Austin is less than one week away on March 8-9 and the entire city will spend 24 hours fundraising. As many of you know, I am the multimedia specialist at Southwest Key Programs and East Austin College Prep. I have the wonderful opportunity to tell the stories of our clients and students and get to know them on a more personal level. I have been here for almost three years and I am still enjoying every moment of it. 

This year, I am raising money again for East Austin College Prep, specifically for the Dreams Never Settle Campaign which will help fund scholarships for our first class of seniors! I want to thank everyone that helped me surpass my goal of $500 last year and I was able to raise $1000. A special shout out to all my out of town friends and family that gave to East Austin College Prep. This year, I want to challenge my friends to help me raise a minimum of $1,000 because this year is very important for us.

I started at Southwest Key in 2013 when our first graduating class was finishing up their freshman year at East Austin College prep. In just three years, I have gotten to know many of our seniors and their stories.

I've personally interviewed many of these students who tell me their stories and what East Austin College Prep means to them. I hear students speak about, "family, brothers, sisters, hope, and dreams." This is what EAPrep means to them.

Not many of my friends and family know but I am working on a year long documentary capturing the lives of four seniors at EAPrep and this monumental occasion of the first graduating class at EAPrep. I've been following four seniors since the summer of 2015 and capturing both the exciting and mundane parts of their lives. Like I mentioned in my previous campaigns, I did not have much growing up and as a first generation American, I often time see myself in their stories and I want them to go further in life than I did!

Please watch the trailer I created for the documentary that I am still working on. I plan to follow these seniors as they first step foot onto their college campus. I hope in watching this trailer, it will not only inspire you to donate to our scholarship fund but to come visit our campus and learn more and meet the students. This scholarship will help them with books, dorm supplies, food, or even a bus pass since many of our students do not have vehicles. Majority of the seniors have been accepted to colleges already and they are currently deciding which schools to go.

You don't have to wait until March 8th to donate, you can schedule your donations starting today! Again, I have a goal of $1,000 and please go to my personal fundraising page to set up your payment today or on March 8th. I will send out another email to remind you guys that this is coming up.

This year, as a special personal thank you, I will be mailing you a tiny polaroid photo of our Tiger in East Austin or a polaroid of a landscape.

Last, after spending in-depth time with these students, I truly I believe in these students. They have what it takes to succeed in life but they just need a little help to make their dreams come true.  

I want to thank everyone in advance for even taking the time to read through this long post and helping the youth in east Austin. If you have any questions about my work, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Love, Lizzie

P.S. Last year, we made an awesome THANK YOU MUSIC video to thank our generous donors. Who knows what we will do this year. ;-)