Support my internship in Argentina!

In the previous entry I had stated that I was looking for several ways to fund my internship in Argentina that will hopefully start next fall. However, I am having some difficulty finding grants and scholarships that are directed at college grads looking to volunteer/intern abroad. While I am keeping my hopes up and continuing my search for these kinds of funding, I want to reach out to my friends and family to help me in whatever way they can.

Ideally, I'd like to remotely set up fundraisers in Grand Rapids and possibly my hometown area (Sandusky) that would help to cover the program costs. This would be quite a process, but I feel like it is more than possible with some hard work and patience (from those of you that are daring enough to offer to help me). Whether the fundraiser be a silent auction at a place where people who would support sustainable development projects congregate (they exist, I'm thinking you know Uma!) or a concert with some of my musician friends, or whatever your brilliant minds come up with! Please, send the link to my blog to as many people as you feel may be interested. I will be soon putting up a "Donate Now" link by which people will be able to make monetary contributions to this project.

I'd like to set any concerns about how the money will be used to rest by quoting the following information from the FSD's website:

Specifically, FSD program fees go directly to funding a participant's expenses:
1. Pre-Departure Support
2. Room and board
3. Transportation to and from the airport, as well as to and from FSD sponsored events, and to and from the
host organization while in-country
4. In-Country Support, including ongoing trainings (see http://www.fsdinternational.org/whyfsd/devtraining)
5. Program Maintenance and Growth, including legal and logistical costs
6. Access to FSD’s grant funds to implement project work
7. Health Insurance
8. Safety and Security Infrastructure (for example, our programs in Kenya needed to be evacuated in January
due to political turmoil).
9. Re-entry support through FSD’s AlumniConnect Program
It is these fees that the host organizations cannot afford to pay. FSD makes every effort to ensure that these
costs are minimized, thereby allowing a maximum number of participants to travel abroad. By funding his/her
trip, a participant benefits a host organization most effectively while gaining meaningful, hands-on international
development experience.

So, as you can see, this money will not go to me to spend as I please. All of it is well-allocated as per a system developed by the FSD that is true to their motto of supporting community based organizations in developing nations at minimal to no-cost to them.

Please, feel free to send or post as a comment any ideas that you may have for me to fundraise the nearly $15,000 that I will need. Thank you so much for reading and pass it on!