For Just 18 cents a Day.....

Well, I was able to make it back to dear Old State this past weekend. The trip itself was a ton of fun, but relatively uneventful. However, during the car ride up with 2 of my traveling companions we stumbled upon a radical, and possibly Earth-shattering idea.

If you're like me, you get tired of seeing those commericals of kids in Third World countries telling you how they have to walk 16 miles, uphill (in both directions) for clean drinking water. However, for my generous donation of just 18 cents a day we get the kid into school, where they will learn to write, begin a campaign of constant correspondence describing their plight, and depress you even further. By the way, how do they tell what kid gets the money? Honestly, I always thought it would cause more trouble if you had a group of have's and have nots in the community. The idea that we came up with takes this basic concept, and simply moves it into a domestic agenda where the relationship is mutally beneficial.

The idea itself has 2 different variations, but they both work off the same concept. In the spirit of consolidation, I'll merge the ideas, but you'll get the general theme we're working for. We decided that we are going to start a program very similar to the one mentioned above, but instead of Third World children, our program will target college students. Here's the plan: each year, you make a small donation to your designated student for that year. The donation could be either in the form of cash, or the pinnacle of collegiate bartering: alcohol. So, each year when you go back to your alma mater, you don't need to worry about finding a place to crash. Your protege for that year would be more than happy to put you up for a few nights. I think $200 a year sounds about right. If you think that sounds high, try booking a hotel room in State College on a football weekend. Imagine as a college student, you got the offer of $200 a year or semester in exchange for 2 or 3 weekends a year of free, guaranteed lodging. Would you have jumped at that offer? Exactly, me too.

But the relationship isn't entirely one-sided. As a mentor, you get pass your infinite wisdom along to those in a new generation. Have you gone through an experience, and said to yourself "if I'd only known that ahead of time." This is where the mentors come in. For instance, your sponsor child tells you he wishes he could graduate so he can get out into the "real world." You interject, tell him that these are the best years of his life, and that he will spend the next 50 trying to get back there. Crisis averted! An added benefit for the mentor is that they would achieve instant "that guy" status. "Hey, who bought all the beer for the party this weekend?" Answer: "that guy who sometimes crashes with Skippy and Jimmy." You're an instant BMOC. Its amazing how far a few bucks go with broke college kids.

Oh, and I don't even have to comment on the possible career networking opportunities for the students.

Now, I'm not saying that this idea is a finished blueprint. It's just a mere outline for something that we think could work. Oh, and just in case you're wondering, $200 a year works out to just $0.55 a day.

Till next week.

~Kevin