Refreshment

Refreshment Last week, I spoke a little about Camp Kesem, one of the many student organizations at MIT and one that dedicates a lot of time and effort into putting together a free summer camp for kids whose parents have cancer. As I mentioned, the other camp counselors and I have been trying hard to raise enough money for camp this year. Weve organized several on-campus events, including bake sales and Stuff My Cups; now, were involved in something even bigger: Pepsi Refresh. The Pepsi Refresh Project is, as you might guess, from Pepsi :) Haha, I know duh. But yeah, its from Pepsi, and its basically an initiative to encourage people to make a positive difference in the world. Past grant recipients have used the money to fund research on spinal muscular atrophy, to send care packages to troops overseas, and to buy library books for elementary school children, among other things. Its nothing less than extraordinary. We CK-ers would like to use the money to send a larger group of kids to camp. There are a thousand project entries, and right now, were in 23rd place!! If we become one of the top two vote-getters in the $250,000 category, then every branch of Camp Kesem gets $10,000 including Camp Kesem MIT :) Right now, $55,000 will send 60 kids to camp; $10,000 more will enable us to reach out to even more children ‚ô• Voting runs through May 31 and you can vote twice every single day: once through a Pepsi account and once if you add the Pepsi Refresh app on Facebook. Heres the MIT Camp Kesem Pepsi Refresh page, and heres a form you can fill out if youre willing to create a Pepsi Refresh account and help out but will probably forget to vote every day (haha, like me). If you fill out the form, then we can actually vote FOR you, which, according to Pepsi, is entirely legitimate yayy. So anyway thats my pitch for Camp Kesem. But I also want to encourage you all to glance about your community and see what you can do to make it better. I think one of the most important things Ive learned in my time here at MIT is that its entirely okay to not know everything or to just have an idea without a clue regarding its implementation. By working with others, seeking outside help, and simply being enthusiastic about the cause you support, you can learn and achieve so, so much. And youll love it all the way through.