Help Logan compete in the History Olympiad in Rome

My name is John and my son Logan has qualified to compete in the 5th International History Olympiad in Rome this summer. He qualified for this by studying hard and competing with his scholastic bowl team at several events all school year, ending with 1st place individual and team finishes at the regional qualifier in March followed by a Quarter Final individual finish at Nationals in Washington, D.C. at the end of April. The estimate of costs for the trip to compete in Rome including registration fees, travel, food, and accommodations is $15,000.

I am a mechanic by trade and part-time knife maker by avocation, his mother is a daycare teacher, so we do not make the kind of money necessary to cover that kind of expense. However, opportunities like this, to be able to say that you are one of the best IN THE WORLD, do so much to open doors to the best colleges and scholarships for them, not to mention employment in the future that we cannot just let it go away without giving every effort to make it happen. Not just opportunities for him either, but also for his schoolmates and teammates that benefit from the recognition it helps garner the school for academic excellence. So it is not just an investment for my son, but in many ways for all the kids at his school as well.

As I mentioned already, the estimated cost for the trip is about $15000 for travel, lodging, food, and registration. Maybe more if we try to take advantage of some of the other opportunities to further his studies along the way. We as a family have managed to come up with about 1/3 of that between our tax return and some borrowing, leaving about 10,000 dollars more to come up with. Now Gofundme takes a certain portion of donations in fees (a small percentage plus a per transaction fee) which is why we have set the goal at $12,000 to help cover those fees. All funds raised will be used to cover plane tickets, accommodations, food, and the few thousand dollar registration fee. If people surprise me and we raise more anything extra will first look at things on the trip to expand his historical education even further, and then set aside for what looks to be a very promising academic future.

Thank you for anything you can do, Logan has worked very hard to earn this opportunity.