Our Story (some background on us)

Hello, my name is Amber Holland, I am 36 years old. I recently moved from Seattle WA to Boise Idaho. I am a single mother of a 14 year old son. We moved back to help my mom. She has Pancreatitis and Fibromyalgia. I am a full time student at Boise State University going into the medical field. I love helping people and love photography so I am putting both of my passions together and I am working towards my Bachelor of Science Degree in Medical Radiography Emphasis Philosophy.

I am currently on state assistance for food and medical. I live off of my financial aid and student loans from semester to semester. I am by no means taking advantage of this situation and I am trying to better myself. I know this is a help up, not a hand out and I work hard to give back to my community the best way I know how, my time.

My father has volunteered for numerous projects including the Special Olympics. When I was in high school in the 90’s my dad and I volunteered to work with deaf and/or blind children. I never forgot how fulfilling that was. My love for helping and volunteering has been strong ever since. I have since been including my son in volunteer work to help instill the value of helping others.

Some of my volunteer work history: When I was in Seattle I volunteered at the Seattle Rescue mission feeding the homeless. I volunteered to sort food for local food banks, I organized coat and school supply drives. I have volunteered at community fairs handing out backpacks and school supplies to children who needed it. I also was chair of a women's committee dedicated to helping women in the community. We organized cell phone drives to benefit domestic violence victims. I have also volunteered working with people with HIV/AIDS, reading books to 2nd graders and helping the elderly with meals, plus much much more. When 9/11 happened, hurricane Katrina hit, the tsunami’s in Thailand or Japan struck, or the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti, I was so compelled to help out somehow. But I wasn't a nurse or doctor; I had no idea of how to help out. I have since joined the American Red Cross and volunteer there for blood drives. But I really want to volunteer with the disaster relief, which is a goal of mine once I have more training.

I have always wanted to go to Africa and help out there. Well the opportunity has presented itself to go in Aug 2012. I don't know if I will ever have this opportunity again but I am going to try anything and everything I can to make this happen. My father is a nurse (LPN) and has worked with people with disabilities. Well a co-worker of his is from Kenya Africa. Her church (New Hope Seattle) is organizing a trip there in Aug 2012 to build a library in her village, Ikutha, Kenya. She asked my dad if we would like to go and help. We both said yes. Well here lies the problem; we have to pay for our own way there. We can stay with her family or the people from her church but they can't pay for us to fly there. It's about $1800 each person to fly there and back. So we need to raise $5400 for airfare for myself, my dad and my son. We are also collecting books to send there prior to us going. That way when we are finished building the library we will have books to put in the library for them to read.

The Impact

The library will provide the community with facilities they need to be able to help themselves. It will be a safe, enriching environment where families can work together, study and learn. 

What We Need

I have looked around for fundraising ideas and planned on trying out some after the holidays. A few weeks ago I saw this website discussed on an episode of Rock Center with Brian Williams and thought I would give this a try. If we meet our goal it will send 3 generations (my father, me and my son) to a small village in Kenya Africa to work together to build a library and be able to stock the library with books. If we don’t meet our goal then all the money raised will go towards getting books and sending them over for the church to use to stock the library with.

If you're not able to help out financially you can also help with providing books. We are collecting books for the library if you have any extra that you don't need anymore you can send them to us or if you're local we can arrange a pick up.

Questions feel free to email us at Hollands.Go.To.Africa@gmail.com

Other Ways You Can Help

Please share our project with your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, hairdresser, dentist, universities, frenemies and anyone else you can think of! Click the share buttons under the video to easily spread the word.

We are always looking for Frequent Flier point donations and fundraising initiatives at all levels! Please contact us if you are interested. :)

NOTE:

"1. RocketHub is not an investment or charity. It is an exchange: funds from fans for rewards from me.
2. It's an All & More funding mechanism: if I don't reach my financial goal I get to keep what I raise. But if I do reach my goal, I get access to exciting opportunities."