Our annual giving campaign called Geeks Give Back, brought to you in partnership with our friends at Bank of America, is 21 days old today. And this little bundle of joy — the fund we’re raising for the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship — has put on a little more weight since our last update.
Related Post: Washington State Opportunity Scholar Yarelly Gomez refuses to be another statistic about minorities in tech
For those who don’t know, Geeks Give Back is our annual philanthropic campaign. It offers the blessed among us in the tech community (and there are many) the opportunity to support those in need. We pick righteous causes that benefit the deserving but underserved and in turn we benefit our entire community.
This year our righteous cause is STEM education. It’s a big issue that most people agree needs to be addressed. And its one that our friends at the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship are tackling head on. They’re finding students with the smarts and desire to pursue STEM education — like Madhi Ramadan who studies neurobiology at the UW. Many are women and students of color. Many are the first in their families to go to college. And they’re supplying these students with scholarships. Who can’t get behind this cause?
We are proud to announce that so far we’ve raised a total of $47,244. This comes from many more individual pledges as well as a generous donation from the Madrona Venture Group of $10K. This amount is being matched by Seattle angel investor Gary Rubens and matched again by the state of Washington. Every dollar given turns into four. That gives us a grand total of $188,976. We’re nearly 40 percent of the way to our goal of raising $500K for WSOS. It’s time to dig deep!
Last week we mentioned that there would be a weekly prize drawing for those that have donated. Congratulations to donor Jordan Johnson who has won a pack of four VIP tickets to the GeekWire Gala. Next week’s prize is a $250 gift card to El Gaucho. Everyone who gives will have their names added to the prize pool. So give big and good luck.
Giving is easy. Simply follow this link to the Geeks Give Back donation page. You can enter your tax deductible gift and pay with a credit card. If STEM education is important to you we ask that you click through and give now. Support a deserving student and support our community. And look for another update next week. Thanks, geeks!
