We're Building A Village in India: Passports With Purpose 2010

I've been pretty quiet about this year's Passports With Purpose effort, but the reality is that a lot has been going on behind the scenes.

You might remember last year's fundraiser, in a few short weeks we raised almost $30,000 to build a school in Cambodia and gave away thousands of dollars worth of travel related prizes to our donors. Almost a year later, the school has been built, and is now in session! I owe a very heartfelt thank you (as do the students who now have an opportunity to get both an education and one healthy meal per day).

This year's fundraiser is going to be even bigger and more fun than it was last year. With your help, we will be raising $50,000 to build a village in India! We've partnered with LAFTI International, an organization that has been doing successful land rights in India for 30 years, and has won two international humanitarian awards for their efforts. I could tell you more, but this inspiring video does a far better job than I ever could.

How You Can Get Involved
Beginning on November 15th, you'll be able to browse a list of all the available prizes, and make a tax-deductible donation directly to Friends of LAFTI International to support this effort. When you make a donation, you'll also get to choose which prize giveaway(s) you'd like to enter! This is a great way to give a gift, and potentially win one too!

There are a few ways you can help out before November 15th:

• On Twitter I'll be co-hosting a twitter conversation about responsible tourism with @QuintessClub this Friday at 10am PST. Follow me @deliciousbaby or watch #TravelWell or #PwP

• On Your Blog Learn more about Participating in Passports With Purpose or sign up to help with this year's Passports With Purpose effort here: Passports With Purpose Signup Sheet

Sponsors:
I'm absolutely blown away by the support we have gotten from our sponsors this year. Each of these companies has made a contribution directly to Friends of LAFTI to help build a village in India and move 25 families out of mudhuts and into real homes.

Platinum I couldn’t be more pleased to announce our top tier sponsor, BootsnAll. They’re longtime friends of the crew at Passports with Purpose and of travelers in general, and we’re delighted that they’ve decided to give back in this generous and meaningful way. I hope you'll check out all the great information (and travel deals) on their site. Gold There's lots of data showing that people learn language best through conversation, that's why Live Mocha's new online learning communities seem so appealing. Live Mocha allows people around the world to help each other with language learning, and provides our community with opportunities to learn and practice new languages together. You’ll want to follow this family’s adventure as they journey around the world for one year. They’ll be volunteering and blogging as they go – they even plan to visit the Passports With Purpose village in India and write about their experiences on RTWWithUs.org! Silver HomeAway is a great resource for finding vacation rentals around the world, and we're thrilled to have them join us for a second year. The TravellersPoint travel community is an online meeting place where travelers can share information. We're excited to have them join us for the second year in a row! Bronze We hope you'll help us welcome back Raveable for the second year in a row. Raveable is a great resource for finding hotel and accommodation reviews from all over the web before you book. Hostelling International makes it easy to find and book hostels around the world. They even have a special category for "family hostels."

If you'd like to join us as a sponsor, it's not too late. Here's a link for more information about sponsoring Passports With Purpose 2010

Filed Under: blogging passports-with-purpose

1 comment | Posted on October 21, 2010 | Save to del.icio.us

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