Seventh Grader’s Basketball Tournament Scores for Village Banking Campaign

April 2009

We contacted Daniel’s mother to find out how he had been able to contribute so generously to FINCA’s efforts to provide financial services to one million poor microentrepreneurs around the world by 2010. Inspired by years of fundraising projects for FINCA with his mother and ninth grade sister Claire, Daniel—an ardent Philadelphia 76ers fan—wrote to one of his favorite players, center Samuel Dalembert, to enlist the Haitian native’s support for a project that would benefit FINCA Haiti and all of FINCA’s 21 programs.

With donated tickets and autographed basketballs and other memorabilia as prizes, and some help from Claire, Daniel organized the "Take It To The Bank" basketball tournament and raffle at his middle school. To promote the event, Daniel spoke to his entire school about microfinance, and showed a FINCA video about the power of Village Banking in Uganda. Two of his friends, Lauren and Michael, supported the cause by baking and selling cookies for eight weeks. The tournament—with a full concession stand, an airbrush tattoo artist, and great music—proved a roaring success. With their extraordinary efforts, Daniel and his friends raised an astonishing $3,350.50 to help industrious women lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

Get creative with your family and friends, and come up with ways that you can give a little, and change a lot! Please share your successes with us by writing FincaOnline@villagebanking.org. We will post the best stories we receive on this page.