Today, I along with my fellow club mates of Interact Club of CIA took part in a fundraiser program for the people affected by the recent floods. The fundraiser took place at Patan Durbar Square. As part of the fundraiser, we sold “chatpate” and coffee, which was a very different experience for me. My role in the fundraiser was to convince people that ours was a noble cause and that donating money to the victims was the right thing to do. Things didn’t go smoothly; at times, the rain threatened to spoil the entire program. However, defying all the odds, we were able to collect a total of Rs. 7000 for the flood victims.
We started the fundraiser at 12 pm. There had been an earlier fundraiser conducted by the Social Service Club of CIA, who did it from 7 am -12 pm! At first, it appeared as if all would be doom and gloom, because nobody seemed interested. After about 3-4 rejects, I was finally able to convince somebody. He was an American from Miami. We talked a bit too. He said that he was a Republican, but not a Trump supporter. I was fascinated by this, because all TV shows that I watch and articles that I read portray Republicans as bigots and xenophobes. However, I found out today that this was not the case for ALL republicans. He seemed like a caring man and donated generously. Another person of note was a Belgian, who was fascinated by the structures and sights in the ancient city. He donated very generously too.
With the passage of the day came mixed results. We were able to successfully persuade a couple of people, but, this was tainted by the sour taste that had been left by the many rejections. There were many noble people too, who came to our stall by themselves, without us showing them the way. In fact, in a way, the fundraiser today was a peek through the windows of humanity. We got to see the brighter sides of human beings, as well as the darker sides. It was gut-wrenching when people ignored us completely. Yet, we still pressed on.
By 4 pm, we decided to stop. Later, we found out that we had collected Rs. 7000 in funds for the flood victims! We hadn’t expected such a big prize! We could call our fundraiser a success, and this was especially sweet for me, because it was the first fundraiser that I had taken part of as a member of Interact Club of CIA. I would like to thank all my friends and the people who donated. Without them, the event would have been a failure. I would like to mention the contributions of my friends Rajat and Manash, who donated a great sum of money, despite being college students. In the end, the fundraiser provided me and the others with memorable experiences and invoked in us an optimistic outlook on the world and the people around us.
We started the fundraiser at 12 pm. There had been an earlier fundraiser conducted by the Social Service Club of CIA, who did it from 7 am -12 pm! At first, it appeared as if all would be doom and gloom, because nobody seemed interested. After about 3-4 rejects, I was finally able to convince somebody. He was an American from Miami. We talked a bit too. He said that he was a Republican, but not a Trump supporter. I was fascinated by this, because all TV shows that I watch and articles that I read portray Republicans as bigots and xenophobes. However, I found out today that this was not the case for ALL republicans. He seemed like a caring man and donated generously. Another person of note was a Belgian, who was fascinated by the structures and sights in the ancient city. He donated very generously too.
With the passage of the day came mixed results. We were able to successfully persuade a couple of people, but, this was tainted by the sour taste that had been left by the many rejections. There were many noble people too, who came to our stall by themselves, without us showing them the way. In fact, in a way, the fundraiser today was a peek through the windows of humanity. We got to see the brighter sides of human beings, as well as the darker sides. It was gut-wrenching when people ignored us completely. Yet, we still pressed on.
By 4 pm, we decided to stop. Later, we found out that we had collected Rs. 7000 in funds for the flood victims! We hadn’t expected such a big prize! We could call our fundraiser a success, and this was especially sweet for me, because it was the first fundraiser that I had taken part of as a member of Interact Club of CIA. I would like to thank all my friends and the people who donated. Without them, the event would have been a failure. I would like to mention the contributions of my friends Rajat and Manash, who donated a great sum of money, despite being college students. In the end, the fundraiser provided me and the others with memorable experiences and invoked in us an optimistic outlook on the world and the people around us.
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| It was great fun raising funds for the flood victims! |
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