A new club at Mill Creek Middle School is hoping to make a lot out of a little.<\/p>\n
The micro-lending club, headed by language-arts teacher Christopher Crew, launched a read-a-thonearlier this month to raise start-up money to be loaned out in small amounts to poor business owners around the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re about raising money so we can give small loans for entrepreneurs in developing countries so they can raise themselves out of poverty,\u201d Crew said Jan. 22.<\/p>\n
Crew said the hope was to raise $4,000 of start-up money to be loaned out in $25 increments, which does not sound like a lot, but can mean a world of difference in a Third World country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn different countries, a dollar can be worth a lot,\u201d said Martin Frye, 13, a member of the club. \u201cTwenty-five dollars in another country, that could mean a lot to somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crew said the idea for the club grew out of an article he read about a similar club in West Seattle and Chew said it sounded like something the kids could both get into and something they could get a lot out of.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiving kids the opportunity to make a difference for someone else,\u201d Crew said. \u201cThat is my goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The club uses the Web site Kiva.org, which features entrepreneurs from around the world all seeking relatively small amounts of money to help with their businesses. Donors then choose the projects they think are most worthy of their money and offer loans, either in the full amount requested or as a partial payment.<\/p>\n
The plan is for the students to break into groups and select how the money will be spent. According to the site, most loans are repaid in about six months, so the money that comes back will be able to go out to another business owner.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it keeps helping over and over again,\u201d said club member Sundus Irfan, 13.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the point in getting money back if they need it more than we do?\u201d asked club member Arianna Gold, 12. \u201cIt\u2019s better to help somebody else, not just yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The club also is giving the students a new perspective on the economy and on the different cultures of the world, although Crew said with more than 75 different countries represented in the Mill Creek student body alone, many of the kids already have that grounding.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the cool things about Kent is we have kids from everywhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s first fundraiser was a read-a-thon hosted last week at the school, in which students collected pledges for the number of pages they would read during the week. Crew said they are also hoping to raise some corporate or business donations as well.<\/p>\n
Daniel Montgomery, 12, is not a member of the club, but participated in the read-a-thon to help raise money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe read-a-thon has made me read more, especially because I know I\u2019m helping people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In addition, students who raise more than $10 will get an invite to a V.I.P party\/dance, just for those who participated.<\/p>\n
But while the prospect of a dance might be enough to encourage others to get involved, members of the club say they are excited to know they are doing the right thing and helping out.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo help someone rebuild their home for $25 makes me feel good about myself for trying to help others,\u201d Frye said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
ON THE WEB<\/p>\n
For more information on micro-lending visit www.kiva.org. To make a donation in the name of the Mill Creek club, join the \u201cMill Creek Micro-Lending\u201d team on the site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new club at Mill Creek Middle School is hoping to make a lot out of a little.
\nThe micro-lending club, headed by language-arts teacher Christopher Crew, launched a read-a-thonearlier this month to raise start-up money to be loaned out in small amounts to poor business owners around the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":223,"featured_media":10657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-10656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10656"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10656"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=10656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}