Thank you for visiting my fundraising page!
Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts.
A little note from me to you...
Dear Family and Friends,
I’d like to thank you in advance for taking the time out of your busy schedules to read this letter!
From March 7th to March 24th 2012, I will be traveling to Addis Ababa and Assosa, Ethiopia with Doctors Giving Back, an organization where I serve as a member of Board of Directors and am also a Volunteer (www.doctorsgivingback.org). To give you a bit of background on how I came to volunteer for this organization, I was introduced to this cause through my personal husband and wife team of doctors, Dr. John and Jana Turns. I have been a patient of theirs since I was about 12 years old, and over the course of the past 17 years, they have become more than just my doctors, but very close friends. About six or seven years ago now, Dr. Turns and Jana met the President of the Benishangul Gumuz region of Ethiopia and he asked them to come and help the destitute people in his forgotten country. After their first trip they were so touched by the need that they formed Doctors Giving Back, a non-profit, medical relief/humanitarian organization with the goal of helping destitute people living in underserved areas of Africa.
I have been volunteering for DGB for the past five years now, helping with various projects, programs and fundraising events. Over the past two years, I have become extremely involved here at home but have always had a but always had a burning desire to do more and go along on an actual trip. I now believe it is time to take a huge leap of faith, get out of my comfort zone and go to Ethiopia! I need to see and experience all of the charitable projects and programs that I and other volunteers for Doctors Giving Back work so hard to support throughout the year. I want to help this cause that I am so passionate about and actually go on a medical trip. I need to go and with my own hands do whatever I can to help the suffering desperate people in the forgotten land of Ethiopia.
Let me tell you a little more about Doctors Giving Back. It is a medical relief, non-profit organization dedicated to education and empowerment through medical and health programs in the developing world. Our mission is to conduct health outreach programs in impoverished African countries, like Ethiopia, by providing medical care, medical supplies, education, clothes, shoes and clean water programs for the people living in these countries. Last year alone, in March 2011, DGB set up water stations which would provide them clean disease free water for over a year in 12 remote villages in far Western Ethiopia. These “hut” villages have about 2000 people living in each village. The people in this region of the country do not have access to clean water and must drink disease ridden water from nearby streams and rivers which ultimately causes severe suffering and almost certain death. Since delivering and instructing the villages on the use of these portable water filters, they have reported back to DGB that abdominal pain and diarrhea are almost non-existent and there is a dramatic improvement in their overall health and ultimate survival. It’s amazing how a tiny thing as simple and as taken for granted as clean water can save the lives of people halfway around the world!! Give Water = Give Life!!! I can hardly wait to be a part of the team traveling in March and I am beyond excited to see with my own eyes just how incredible and important it is to reach out and help those who need it most. I know it won’t be easy as Ethiopia is half a world away, but I am told by others who have gone on this special trip that it will change my life forever!
So, why am I telling you all this?? I really need your help. I would love to have you sponsor me by helping me raise the funds I need to go with DGB in March and give you an opportunity to be a part of this amazing effort to Save Lives in Africa! It’s never easy asking people to give and donate their hard earned money, especially in these hard economic times, but I believe that this is a cause you can be proud of supporting. YOU will be Saving Lives! My goal is to raise $3000 by the end of January, so any donation that you could make would be greatly appreciated (and it’s tax deductible!). I would also appreciate your prayers, as I have never ventured so far from my home and family, and I pray that God will watch over my husband Eric and my dogs while I’m gone and also to be with me and keep me safe and healthy during my travels.
There are a few ways you can help donate to my 2012 Trip to Ethiopia:
1. Mail checks to me, payable to Doctors Giving Back: Carrie Casey 911 Waterstone Place San Ramon, CA. 94582
2. Mail checks to DGB, payable to Doctors Giving Back on my behalf: Doctors Giving Back 7172 Regional St. #155 Dublin, CA 94568 (Memo Line: Carrie Casey)
3. Give online through my First Giving Ethiopia 2012 Fundraising Page (7% of what you donate goes to First Giving as a fee): Web Address: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/carriecasey/carriecaseysfundraisingpage4dgbethiopia2012
4. Give online through the Doctors Giving Back Page (PayPal) and mention you are donating in my name (3-4% of what you donate goes to PayPal as a fee): http://www.doctorsgivingback.org/#!contact (Click on the “Donate Now” button)
I encourage you to take a look at this video, composed by our DGB Trip Photographer, Mandy Sroka from the 2011 trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIXZxyDMCPc&feature=context&context=C384d796UDOEgsToPDskJge8CZKYefnzGByufireys. This video is one of a few videos Mandy has; here is the link to see more if you are interested. You can see what I will be doing on my trip in March. The link is: http://www.youtube.com/user/mandysroka/search?query=Ethiopia
Thank you again for taking the time to read this and I prayerfully hope you consider how you can support this endeavor. Anything you can give is wonderful – EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS!!!
Please forward this on to anyone you think might be interested in making a donation as well.