This is a message for my Facebook friends and family, many who know this is my 95th birthday month. To celebrate this milestone, I am inviting you to join me in a campaign supporting Common Hope/Familias de Esperanza. Common Hope, a nonprofit organization, has a 40-year history of partnering with families in Guatemala by providing academic scholarships, health care, housing and family development support.

My involvement with Common Hope began in 1999 when I sponsored the first of 24 students, 15 of whom have earned a brick as a high school graduate in the Pathway of Dreams being built brick-by-brick, year after year, on the Common Hope campus in Antigua. I am so proud of each of these young people and their families who have become my friends as they followed their dreams to graduation.

Guatemalan students work with incredible challenges - but with care and support, they are graduating, dreaming big, and building new futures. This is why I am proud and happy to invite you to join the campaign called STAND - Scholars Taking Action for New Dreams.

STAND is a campaign to raise resources and relationships students need to succeed. Young people may drop out of school because of financial hardship or lack of access. STAND is about changing that story. With help of sponsors and donors, students can receive academic support and encouragement to keep going, even when the odds are against then.

The goal for STAND is to raise $50,000 for student scholarships, engage 50 new student sponsors, and welcome 50 new Pathway Members.

I would love it if you would join me in celebrating my birthday with a gift to support STAND. For $99/month or $1,188/year, we can sponsor one new student.

Thank you for reading my post - and thank you for helping to make dreams come true.