Fundraising
Although we're doing it on the cheap, service is still expensive: It costs over $400 to send each student to the sites.
Last year, our budget was $300,000. We anticipate that this number will increase significantly in the coming years.
Where are the costs coming from?
A large percentage of our budget goes toward transportation expenses. We charter buses to centralized car rental locations, then rent minivans and drive to our sites.
Additionally, we impose no lodging, food, or utility costs on our host communities throughout the week. We stay in community centers -- often on floors and in sleeping bags. If a community provides us meals throughout the week, it's on our dime. In other cases, groups must cook their own meals.
How do we cover the costs?
We strive to keep our program open to anyone who wants to join. There is no application process and the only money that must come from a participant's pocket is a $20 program fee. Throughout the year, we sponsor fundraising events that give students a chance to raise money by selling tickets to prize giveaways and sending letters appealing to family and friends. However, many students have found that these requirements are prohibitively expensive.
That's where you come in.
What you can do to help
With your tax-deductible donation to our program, you are making a valuable investment in a learning experience whose lessons many of our future leaders will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
To donate, please send checks to:
Appalachia Volunteers Program
Boston College, Office of Campus Ministry
McElroy Commons 233
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
If your corporation matches donations, please enclose the appropriate forms.
Note that under the umbrella of the Trustees for Boston College, the Appalachia Volunteers program is a nonprofit 501(c)3 with a federal tax exemption number of 04-2103545.
If you'd like more information about the program, you can request this literature from appalachia@bc.edu
Appalachia Gala
We are pleased to announce the first annual Appalachia Gala benefit dinner was held April 15, 2007 in the Heights Room at Boston College. The gala is open to all program members who are seniors the year it is held, all program alumni, and their guests!