Stoneman Douglas Students’ Fund

Edit - May 2018

To our Honorary Eagles,

Thanks to your incredible generosity, 1,024 MSD students, teachers, and chaperones made their voices heard in Washington, D.C. for the March For Our Lives! Special thanks to the following individuals and organizations who demonstrated outsized support: Ariel Emanuel, Goldman Sachs Gives, Home Depot, PSAV, Clem Noble, Giffords Courage, Brady Campaign.

But Mobilizing MSD Alumni is a movement - not a moment. As promised, funds raised above and beyond the needs of the initial trip are supporting the MSD community for recovery and advocacy. As we work to further our mission, we are increasing our goal to $250,000 so that we can continue to sponsor and undertake the following initiatives:

- Partnership with the Embassy of New Zealand to send MSD students to the Youth Leadership Summit in July 2018 to exchange ideas and best practices for civic action;

- Student-led trip to Columbine, CO to register voters and raise awareness for the anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School;

- Summer program with a calendar of enrichment and sports activities to support and connect students who will remain in Parkland during the break;

- Support and resources for Shine MSD, a student-led organization promoting healing through the arts;

- Team building activities with MSD teachers, giving them the rare opportunity to spend dedicated time together on and off school grounds. One of the teachers mentioned to us that they “had no idea how much they needed” the experience;

- Seminar for parents run by mental health experts and counselors to help them recognize signs of PTSD in their children;

And much more to come.

Mobilizing MSD Alumni ( http://msdstrongalum.com/), now over 11,000 members strong, is harnessing our abilities, influence, and resources to advance our mission in three areas:

OUTREACH: Meeting the needs of MSD students and teachers, organizing special recovery and advocacy projects in partnership with the school and the Parkland community;

ADVOCACY: Taking action to demand policy change across the nation, amplifying the voices of student leaders and victims’ families;

COMMUNITY: Strengthening alumni connections, embracing graduating seniors as they enter the alumni network, and maintaining strong ties to the school.

MobilizingMSD: https://twitter.com/MobilizingMSD
MobilizingMSDAlumni: https://www.facebook.com/MobilizingMSDAlumni/
MSDAlumni: https://www.instagram.com/msdalumni/



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Original:

Mobilizing MSD Alumni is a group of more than 11,500 alumni of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. We were formed in the aftermath of the mass shooting at MSD on February 14th, 2018, with the intention of supporting current students and faculty, as well as to help advocate for change. We are working directly with the school on a variety of initiatives, from procuring special supplies for the student's return to school, to mental health resources, and more.
The biggest and most immediate funding need at the moment is money that can get hundreds of students from MSD to Washington, DC, to attend the March for our Lives on March 24, 2018. We are coordinating with MSD faculty and students to arrange travel for more than 700 students, teachers, and chaperones.

Flights have been arranged, but there are additional costs to support the full trip, including buses for ground transportation, food, rentals, lodging, and more. As of this time, we are estimating a minimum of $50K to cover the remaining trip expenses, and the total could exceed $75K.

In the event that we raise more than the costs of the travel needs, we will use 100% of the excess for funding direct initiatives with the school to to continue to support the faculty and students during this time.

The Direct Impact Fund is an independent, registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that focuses on providing direct assistance to those affected by natural and man-made disasters. They will collect all funds from this campaign and help us distribute them, so they are tax-deductible to you.

If you would prefer to give offline via wire or check, please contact us by clicking on the envelope next to our name to send us an email.

Thank you for helping make us #MSDStrong in DC and at home.

Judith Danovitch, Craig Pugatch, Laura Recchi, and Rachel Nyswander Thomas

National Coordinators, Mobilizing MSD Alumni

mobilizingmsdalumni.org
Twitter: @MobilizingMSD
Instagram: @MSDAlumni
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MobilizingMSDAlumni

Edit - March 15

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

We could not be happier to share that we have reached our initial goal of $75,000 to cover the travel expenses for 700 current MSD students, teachers, and chaperones. Our deepest appreciation to everyone who gave, big or small, with sincere and heartfelt thanks to the generous Ariel Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor, who last night helped us bridge our gap of $33,000.

LET’S KEEP GOING - we are raising our goal to $150,000!

Our number one priority is ensuring that every student who wants to attend the Washington, DC, March For Our Lives is able to attend. Thanks to your amazing support we can now offer to sponsor travel for hundreds of additional students who, to date, had been on a waitlist.

And we won't stop after 3/24 - we are actively working directly with MSD to sponsor special projects, events, supplies, resources, and mental health counseling for the students and faculty to aid in their recovery and continue their advocacy.

On behalf of 11,000 alumni worldwide, thank you for your ongoing support and dedication to MSD students and their movement.

As of April 11, 2019, the Direct Impact Fund operates as GoFundMe.org.