First Donation!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have $220!  I can't even say that I raised the money, my AWESOME BROTHER did!  You might remember the handsome guy from an earlier post...

Carl, me, and Vedasto at Vedasto's home in Arusha, 2008

Carl and I at the Usa River Campus grand opening, School of St. Jude, 2008

The minute I told Carl I would be doing 3 Peaks 3 Weeks he was right on board.  Both of my previous trips to Africa have been with my family, so my bro knows first hand what a difference we can make by being supportive of existing success stories like The School of St. Jude. 

Here's how Carl raised $220.  I tell this story because it is a bit unconventional.  He's a Senior at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota (read: cold!).  

After a December snowstorm of 18 inches!

Majoring in German and Environmental Studies, he also finds time to be a part of the Macalester Traditions, or "Trads" as they are lovingly called on campus.  The Trads are an all-male a capella group made up of students, and they wear as much plaid as they can when they sing.

Carl singing with the Trads

 The Trads have a Valentine's Day tradition: they deliver singing valentines to people, "ValenTrads". $5 for a ValenTrad but....BONUS!  $10 for a shirtless ValenTrad.  In Carl's own words: "yeah, we're kind of shameless..." but they do make more money.  They performed 51 singing valentines (I don't know how many were shirted/shirtless), and Carl convinced all the guys to give half that money to 3 Peaks 3 Weeks. 

Thank you Trads!

Awesome!  If 12 poor, shirtless, college boys can raise $220, how much more can us clothed, working people collect?  Thanks Carl for setting the bar high!  You're the greatest.