Children fundraise online for tsunami appeals
Howard Lake | 13 February 2005 | News
Online fundraising service Justgiving reports that young children are using the Internet to fundraise for the tsunami disaster appeals.
Children as young as four have turned to the Internet to raise funds for charity in the wake of the tsunami disaster, according t Justgiving.
Six-year-old Harry Harlow askes for no birthday presents this year. Instead, Harry’s friends have donated to his online fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/harryis6 to help victims of the tsunami disaster.
Advertisement
“This year, I decided not to have any presents for my party,” said Harry. “I saw on the TV that lots of kids my age had their presents washed away by a big wave. And their food and their houses too. My Mum asked me whether, if I was very hungry like them, I would rather have a hot meal or a present, and I said a hot meal.”
His appeal has passed its original target of £200 and currently stands at £371.92, including Gift Aid reclaim.
Harry, from Wandsworth, London, build his fundraising page in aid of the Disasters Emergency Committee “in a few minutes”, and personalised it with a photo and message, and then emailed it out to his friends. “Please ask your Mum and Dad to help you give something through this website,” asks Harry on his page. “I have heard on the TV that every little helps, so whatever you can give, please give it.”
Harry’s mum Helen Harlow said Harry had been very excited to see the fund increase, reach and then exceed the target he had set. “Justgiving is a great way of making these kind of donations fun and interesting for children,” she said.
Harry has been joined by an even younger fundraiser in the United States. Four-year-old Alexandra Coats from Arlington, MA, has raised more than $1,000 on her Justgiving fundraising page for Save The Children’s Tsuanami relief programme at www.justgiving.com/pfp/alexwave .
She was inspired to act by the plight of the King and Queen of Thailand, who lost a son in the disaster: she wrote them a letter and pledged to raise funds to help. To date she has raised $1,026 online.
Alex’s dad Jamie Coats said: “The process of fundraising was transformative for Alex in that the experience wasn’t just about giving, but the emotion and passion behind the giving. Alex and I went to the bank and took out $1000 in $1 bills so she could visualize how much she had raised.”
He added: “Justgiving is incredibly powerful because it enables millions of small “voices” from all over the world to be heard and to help.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.