Hi everyone,
It was not too many days ago I wrote you all about the HOT Summit 2015
Scholarship program and I am very happy to say the response has been
pretty overwhelming. It is a very diverse group of HOT community members
representing about 13 countries so far.
The application form is short, but let me tell you: the list of things
the mappers are doing around the world is as long as my arm. Amazing
people working in challenging circumstances to empower their friends,
families, colleagues and whole communities for this generation and the
next. They are working on their priorities according to their needs and
circumstances. They are literally rolling up their sleeves and changing
our world for the better while building local skills and knowledge to
ensure the positive change keeps happening.
I think I speak for the whole scholarship committee when I say, after
reading the applications to date, there is no applicant that we want to
say no to. The dedication, enthusiasm and optimism shared with us so far
is inspiring and touching. I wish we could share the scholarship
applications with you so you could read the incredible work people are
doing.
We are budgeting USD$2500 for a full scholarship (all travel, lodging
and daily meals covered). That is a lot of money for just about anybody.
But when I read about what our community members are doing in their
local communities, the impact they are having, the lives they are
improving, the future they are creating, I realize that 2500 dollars is
a great bargain for the results it will generate in every corner of the
globe.
If you as an individual can donate to HOT to sponsor any part of a
scholarship or where you work or a local civic group you are member of
can help donate to HOT to sponsor our scholarships, please do it. You
will be directly touching lives and helping build a better future for
all of us. We do not want to turn down any applicants. Please help us
bring the global HOT community together to learn from and inspire each
other and then carry that experience back around the world to spread
their knowledge and map their futures.
The HOT Summit website has details about what sponsoring at different
levels will "get you" as far as the conference goes and that is great,
especially as a business, you will get your name out there in a lasting
way and to a big audience who will know you made a tangible difference
in a lot of lives by helping sponsor a scholarship. But those rewards
are nothing compared to knowing you directly joined with someone,
probably far away from where you live, to help give them the tools and
knowledge to build and empower their community. You will have dozens,
maybe hundreds, of friends you will never know or meet in some far away
part of the world who share your love of mapping and value the
difference it can make in peoples lives.
You can do this right now, any amount you can contribute will be
earmarked only for scholarships, only for helping bring people to this
important first global gathering of the HOT Community.
Here is a PayPal link, you can donate any amount there, you don't need a
PayPal account. If you donate enough to reach one of the official
sponsorship levels, we will know and follow up right away. You can also
just send us your phone number and we will call and can make
arrangements to accept your donation some other way, phone, check, money
order, wire transfer, etc, whatever way you want to contribute, we can
do that. HOT US Inc. is, of course, a registered non-profit so donations
are deductible from US taxes.
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=WHLAW3RX92BNL
or
http://summit.hotosm.org/sponsor/
Please, if you are able, help us achieve our goal of not having to
decline any scholarship applications.
Best wishes,
Blake
HOT Mapper and HOT Summit 2015 Helper
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