Successful Scholarship Fundraiser

Continuing a three-year service-learning tradition, students in Dr. Bacholle’s French/Women’s Studies 331 – Perspectives on Women's Issues – class raised money to support the secondary education of young women in Les Palmes, Haiti. 

Tuition at Jean Bruny College, a high school for girls, costs $180 per year. In past years, Eastern students have raised enough money for one to four scholarships.  This year’s fundraising efforts exceeded all expectations, raising $915 and funding more than five scholarships. 

The funds were enthusiastically well-received by the ministry coordinating donations for Jean Bruny College.  “Our ministry is so appreciative of the fundraising that [Eastern] students have done the last several years to support the students at the school in Les Palmes. That is especially true this year since our ministry has not been able to conduct any of our in person fundraising events, such as our wine tasting, silent auction and pasta dinner,” said Peter Sullivan of Our Lady Queen of Peace Haitian Ministry.

Undeterred by the realities of the pandemic, the students in Dr. Bacholle’s FRE/WST 331 class were innovative in their fundraising ideas, exploring and implementing a plan that was workable during a pandemic. 

Led by senior Lyle Smith, the class established and grassroots-marketed a Go-Fund-Me page.  Family, friends and colleagues, many directly connected to Eastern community, made donations from a little as a couple dollars up to $100.  Collectively, these donors and the student organizers made a significant impact on the educational futures of young women in Haiti.

Dr. Bacholle hopes that her FRE/WST 331 students realize that, “although they face their own struggles, others are far less fortunate and that a little help here goes a long way there. Less than $200 may determine whether a young woman will remain in endemic poverty or will be empowered by receiving a diploma that she will use in turn to empower her own family and community.”

An administrator at Jean Bruny College shared the names and pictures of the students that would receive the scholarships.  Their futures and the futures of their families are now a little brighter.