One Dollar For Life
Encyclopedia
One Dollar For Life, or otherwise known as ODFL is an IRS Registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded to address third world poverty on the premise of collecting one dollar
from each of millions of US high school students and then channeling those funds into small-scale infrastructure projects in developing countries. It was founded in 2006 at Los Altos High School
in the San Francisco Bay Area
by history
and economics
teacher Robert Freeman and science
teacher Lisa Bolton.
ODFL works with qualified Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the developing world to fund and implement such projects as schools, water wells, irrigation systems, sanitary waste disposal, vaccinations, and other simple, low cost projects. These projects have the potential to dramatically improve the capacity for self-sustenance for tens of millions of people.
during an economics class. The class was asked to devise a plan to help people around the world, and the idea of ODFL was born. “The average kid in our school contributed 93 cents each, but these kids put an average of $11 apiece into the box,” says Robert Freeman. “It made me cry because these were the poorest kids in the school. But they understood how important it is to help someone else.”
The organization became a reality in 2007 when students began campaigning within the school through a class-to-class speaking tour. Throughout the school year, they managed to raise $9,000 at Los Altos High School, which they used on the summer of 2007 in Kenya to build a schoolhouse, a project spearheaded by student president Mandeep Chahal, and advertised by student photographer Margaret Lewis.
ODFL works to help install small infrastructure projects, such as water wells, irrigation systems, sanitary waste disposal systems, and similar such projects that have a low cost but a high impact on small villages.
Its maiden project was the construction of a school in Naro Moru
, Kenya
, which cost $9,400 to build. The schoolhouse was furnished with materials to help educate fifty children who previously learned in a barn house. Since then, the organization has sent 452 bikes to children in Kenya whose homes were located far from the local schools, as well as the donation of milk cows, the construction of two more schools in various other locations in Kenya, and an upgrade for a woman's clinic in Nairobi
.
Besides Kenya, ODFL volunteers in partnership with the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation
have additionally constructed schools in Nepal
, and prevented young girls from being sold into sexual slavery by donating livestock
to their parents instead of prostitution
money. They have also aided the local Second Harvest Food Bank
chapter by raising 4,000 pounds of canned food. The organization has also worked with school-based clubs at Los Altos
, Mountain View
, and Fremont
High Schools to raise money and aide the relief efforts in China following the Sichuan earthquake
. They donated $3,000 to the Red Cross.
ODFL's largest project was announced on January 2009, a plan that involves the entire population of the city of Burlingame
, which includes 25,000 people. The plan to raise at least $18,000 in one month and send them to Kisimu Education Fund in order to construct two-room high school in a village where they previously built a secondary school
.
Throughout 2007-2008, ODFL plans to complete 2-5 more projects along with completing fund raisers at 50-100 more schools.
hypothesized that it was a direct result of them being "the first set of students to be taught by teachers who were required to do community service in order to get a high school diploma."
Macheru Karuku, a Kenyan official who oversaw the numerous school-building campaigns throughout Kenya was afraid that the volunteers might act negatively, and was "encouraged when I talked with them later and they realized how lucky they were to be living in good houses back in America, adding that they would never forget what they had seen."
Because of the enormous need of American teenagers to "find a purpose larger than themselves," as described by ODFL, students from an Arizona
high school have rebuilt a school in post-Hurricane Katrina
New Orleans, while high schools from Florida
and New York
have requested fundraiser boxes to host in their respective schools.
Jody Hare, a teacher at West High School
remarked the speed and efficiency in which the projects were completed, saying "Within three months of the fundraiser we could see pictures of what our students’ money was doing." Students have also expressed gratitude to the organization, saying, "I’ve never been able to feel I could actually do good in the world. Now I can see that I can."
United States one-dollar bill
The United States one-dollar bill is the most common denomination of US currency. The first president, George Washington, painted by Gilbert Stuart, is currently featured on the obverse, while the Great Seal of the United States is featured on the reverse. The one-dollar bill has the oldest...
from each of millions of US high school students and then channeling those funds into small-scale infrastructure projects in developing countries. It was founded in 2006 at Los Altos High School
Los Altos High School (Los Altos, California)
Los Altos High School, established in 1954, is a public school located in the affluent Silicon Valley suburb of Los Altos, California. It has generally demonstrated a high level of academic achievement...
in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
by history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
teacher Robert Freeman and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
teacher Lisa Bolton.
ODFL works with qualified Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the developing world to fund and implement such projects as schools, water wells, irrigation systems, sanitary waste disposal, vaccinations, and other simple, low cost projects. These projects have the potential to dramatically improve the capacity for self-sustenance for tens of millions of people.
History
One Dollar For Life was founded in 2006 at Los Altos High School (Los Altos, California)Los Altos High School (Los Altos, California)
Los Altos High School, established in 1954, is a public school located in the affluent Silicon Valley suburb of Los Altos, California. It has generally demonstrated a high level of academic achievement...
during an economics class. The class was asked to devise a plan to help people around the world, and the idea of ODFL was born. “The average kid in our school contributed 93 cents each, but these kids put an average of $11 apiece into the box,” says Robert Freeman. “It made me cry because these were the poorest kids in the school. But they understood how important it is to help someone else.”
The organization became a reality in 2007 when students began campaigning within the school through a class-to-class speaking tour. Throughout the school year, they managed to raise $9,000 at Los Altos High School, which they used on the summer of 2007 in Kenya to build a schoolhouse, a project spearheaded by student president Mandeep Chahal, and advertised by student photographer Margaret Lewis.
Impact and Projects
Its maiden project was the construction of a school in Naro Moru
Naro Moru
Naro Moru is a small market town in central Kenya, lying on the Naro Moru River, between Nyeri and Nanyuki. Its main industry is tourism, as a base for hikers ascending Mount Kenya, to its east. Solio Game Reserve lies near the town. The town is the center of the Kieni East division in the Nyeri...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, which cost $9,400 to build. The schoolhouse was furnished with materials to help educate fifty children who previously learned in a barn house. Since then, the organization has sent 452 bikes to children in Kenya whose homes were located far from the local schools, as well as the donation of milk cows, the construction of two more schools in various other locations in Kenya, and an upgrade for a woman's clinic in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
.
Besides Kenya, ODFL volunteers in partnership with the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation
Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation
The Nepal Youth Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization. The mission of NYF is to provide children in Nepal with education, housing, medical care, and support....
have additionally constructed schools in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, and prevented young girls from being sold into sexual slavery by donating livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
to their parents instead of prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
money. They have also aided the local Second Harvest Food Bank
Food bank
A food bank or foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes mostly donated food to a wide variety of agencies that in turn feed the hungry. The largest sources of food are for-profit growers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers who in the normal course of business have...
chapter by raising 4,000 pounds of canned food. The organization has also worked with school-based clubs at Los Altos
Los Altos High School (Los Altos, California)
Los Altos High School, established in 1954, is a public school located in the affluent Silicon Valley suburb of Los Altos, California. It has generally demonstrated a high level of academic achievement...
, Mountain View
Mountain View High School (Mountain View, California)
Mountain View High School , one of three Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District public high schools, is located in at 3535 Truman Avenue, Mountain View, California, 94040. Mountain View High School serves a diverse student body of over 1750 students from the cities of Mountain View, Los...
, and Fremont
Fremont High School (Sunnyvale, California)
Fremont High School is a comprehensive, co-educational, public secondary school in Sunnyvale, California, United States. Fremont is currently the only open public high school located in the city of Sunnyvale and is part of the Fremont Union High School District .-History:Fremont was originally...
High Schools to raise money and aide the relief efforts in China following the Sichuan earthquake
2008 Sichuan earthquake
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake or the Great Sichuan Earthquake was a deadly earthquake that measured at 8.0 Msand 7.9 Mw occurred at 14:28:01 CST...
. They donated $3,000 to the Red Cross.
ODFL's largest project was announced on January 2009, a plan that involves the entire population of the city of Burlingame
Burlingame, California
Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame. It is renowned for its many surviving examples of Victorian architecture, its affluence, and...
, which includes 25,000 people. The plan to raise at least $18,000 in one month and send them to Kisimu Education Fund in order to construct two-room high school in a village where they previously built a secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
.
Funding
ODFL works with students at American high schools. They run a fund raiser at their school where they ask each student to give Just One Dollar. ODFL takes these funds and combines them with other schools’ funds to pay for the projects. Each school is able to follow the progress of its funds to see how they have helped improve the lives of other people.Throughout 2007-2008, ODFL plans to complete 2-5 more projects along with completing fund raisers at 50-100 more schools.
Ranking by Schools
As of 2006| Ranking | School | Amount Raised |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Altos High School Los Altos High School (Los Altos, California) Los Altos High School, established in 1954, is a public school located in the affluent Silicon Valley suburb of Los Altos, California. It has generally demonstrated a high level of academic achievement... |
$2,400 |
| 2 | Centennial High School Centennial High School (Bakersfield, California) Centennial High School is a public high school located in Bakersfield, California. Its opening in 1993 marked the 100 year anniversary of the Kern High School District. Centennial is the home of many nationally recognized extra-curricular academic programs, including Virtual Business and We The... |
$2,000 |
| 3 | Henry M. Gunn High School | $1,150 |
| 4 | Saint Francis High School Saint Francis High School (Mountain View) Saint Francis High School, founded in 1954 by the Brothers of Holy Cross, is a Roman Catholic, co-educational, college preparatory secondary school located in Mountain View, CA. The Brothers of Holy Cross serve both on the faculty and on the Board of Directors... |
$1,050 |
| 5 | West High School West High School (Bakersfield, California) West High School is a Public school high school located in Bakersfield, California. The school serves about 2500 students in grades 9 to 12 in the Kern High School District... |
$450 |
Reaction
The organization was described as part of a "generation of post-9/11 children". San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
hypothesized that it was a direct result of them being "the first set of students to be taught by teachers who were required to do community service in order to get a high school diploma."
Macheru Karuku, a Kenyan official who oversaw the numerous school-building campaigns throughout Kenya was afraid that the volunteers might act negatively, and was "encouraged when I talked with them later and they realized how lucky they were to be living in good houses back in America, adding that they would never forget what they had seen."
Because of the enormous need of American teenagers to "find a purpose larger than themselves," as described by ODFL, students from an Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
high school have rebuilt a school in post-Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
New Orleans, while high schools from Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
have requested fundraiser boxes to host in their respective schools.
Jody Hare, a teacher at West High School
West High School (Bakersfield, California)
West High School is a Public school high school located in Bakersfield, California. The school serves about 2500 students in grades 9 to 12 in the Kern High School District...
remarked the speed and efficiency in which the projects were completed, saying "Within three months of the fundraiser we could see pictures of what our students’ money was doing." Students have also expressed gratitude to the organization, saying, "I’ve never been able to feel I could actually do good in the world. Now I can see that I can."