Hello and welcome to the School Supplies for Afghanistan blog. Thanks in advance.
Introductions
We’re just two guys --Brandon and Steve--wanting to raise some money to purchase school supplies for kids in Afghanistan. We’re old friends that met in Jr. High School some 25 odd years ago. We grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming and while taking different paths after high school, have managed to remain close friends.
Brandon Erdmann is an Army medevac helicopter pilot currently serving in Afghanistan. He’s the “In” of this little operation. This was also his idea as he’s been able to see first hand how simple things like school supplies can make a huge difference in the lives of these kids. He's currently working with Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in the Nangarhar and Nuristan Provinces.
Steven Choi is a medical device design engineer in the San Francisco Bay Area and is administering this blog and taking care of activities here in the States.
Our Mission
1. Raise money to send over to Afghanistan to buy local supplies and help the local economy.
2. Raise money to buy school supplies domestically and send them to Afghanistan.
3. To start with a limited and well defined scope. We ourselves do not have a lot of resources but we want to do what we can and still be able to manage things correctly. Plus it gives you greater assurance that the resources you donate can quickly and easily be used.
4. To raise at least $1000 through the month of August.
Our target items include: Pencils and Erasers, Pens, Bound Notebooks, Rulers, Colored Pencils, Markers, Construction Paper, Pencil Sharpeners and Chalk and Erasers.
Items we're not targeting are: Tape, Glue, Three Ring Binders, Crayons, Paint, Folders.
Our Plan
It's pretty simple. We'll be sending cash and purchased supplies to Brandon in Afghanistan. The cash will be used to purchase some supplies there and all goods collected will be distributed by the local PRTs. All donations received will be used to either purchase supplies or be used to pay for shipping costs. That's it!
Important information concerning your donation
To donate, please use the Chip-In widget to the right of the blog text. The great thing is you can monitor our progress as we try and achieve our goal. Currently we are only set up to receive donations through PayPal.
We are not set up as a recognized non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. As such we do not qualify and cannot provide receipts or other documentation for tax deduction purposes.
Contact Us
You can contact us at suppliesforafg@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments. Make sure to revisit us as we'll hopefully be posting progress reports and other information.
Thanks!
