As you know, fundraising is one of my least favorite things to do - not only because I just don't like having my hand out, but because I recognize that the very people I'm trying to help are those who tend not to have extra money with which to make such donations. As such, thanks to the keen suggestion of one of our fellow members, I've decided to start a new, small-donor fundraising push for one specific purpose: purchasing a banner ad on Yahoo!
ForgiveStudentLoanDebt.com started out as an alternative proposal to economic stimulus. In the year and a half since its inception, it's grown into so much more. With nearly 300,000 members of the Facebook Group and thousands more here on the main website, our greatest strength has always been our numbers. To keep the momentum going, we need to continuously grow our ranks, particularly outside of the Facebook bubble. The more members we have, the more people who can write a constant stream of letters to their representatives in Congress, to contact their local media with stories of the plight of the educated poor, and to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing discussion about the fastest-growing crisis in America today: student loan debt.
In the last year and a half, student loan debtors have made incredible strides towards correcting the injustices inherent in the student lending industry, however, there's still plenty of work to do. While the ultimate goal is across-the-board student loan forgiveness for everybody as a means of economic stimulus, there are many other, perhaps more attainable goals for which we're fighting, including: restoration of bankruptcy protections to both federal and private student loans, strengthening Income-Based Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness and addressing the tax implications of those programs, tighter restrictions on private lenders, caps on interest rates, exposing the fraud of for-profit schools, educating high school students and other prospective students on the realities of repayment and default, and demanding truth and transparency with respect to reporting the true state of affairs in higher education today.
These modest goals are certainly achievable if we continue to grow our ranks and make our voices heard. To do that, I need your help. For a contribution of just $25, $10 or even $5, you can help me purchase a Yahoo! banner ad that has the potential to reach tens of thousands of fellow student loan debtors who otherwise wouldn't know about the work we're doing.
As always, thank you for your help and support!
-Rob
