This will only take a few minutes of your time so please continue reading. You won’t regret it, I promise.
I’ve been involved in the political world for most of my life now, but that wasn’t always the case. It wasn’t until I joined the California YMCA Youth & Government program as a high school sophomore that my passion for politics and government really took hold.
And so, each year I raise money to help students participate in the program who may not have the funds to do so otherwise. Can I count on your help to reach my $1500 fundraising goal with a tax-deductible donation of $25, $50, $100 or whatever you can afford?
Click here to donate: http://bit.ly/YMCA-Karl-Frisch (Under “Solicitor” be sure to select my name.)
Not only did the program make me aware of the problems facing my home state of California and the nation as a whole, but it also taught me different techniques for making changes within the system. Perhaps most rewarding, I made so many friends as a participant in the program – friends that have lasted long into my adult life – from such geographically, racially, and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds that I would have otherwise never met growing up.
Each year more than 2,000 high school students from throughout California come together to discuss, debate and legislate issues of great importance not only to themselves but to their communities as well. They run for statewide offices like Governor, Attorney General and Secretary of State, serve on the State Supreme Court and work as Senators and Assemblymembers in the actual State Capitol legislative chambers.
Participants spend September to mid-February at local weekly meetings learning how laws are made, how they are enforced and how to draft and pass their own legislation. They attend two weekend training conferences in central California, learning ethics, parliamentary procedure, the functions of government and, most of all, how to perform the real-life roles of the elected officials they will model at the final five-day conference where they take over the state Capitol in Sacramento.
However, the program is expensive. Even though it is largely run by hundreds of adult volunteers (most of whom pay their own way to conferences), with only a handful of full-time paid staff, the costs are still formidable. That’s where YOU come in. While many economically disadvantaged teens have scholarships available to help defray costs, even middle-income teens sometimes have trouble raising the necessary funds.
This year I have the privilege of helping to support this important program – a program that changed my life forever – as a volunteer for the Annual Support Campaign. Nearly 200 volunteers (mostly adults) are trying to raise more than $300,000 to help underwrite the program and provide scholarships for those who cannot otherwise afford this amazing experience.
My personal goal is to raise $1500 and although my fund raising experience consists mostly of helping political campaigns, I feel confident that with your modest tax-deductible contribution of $25, $50, $100 or whatever you can afford, I will be successful.
Click here to donate: http://bit.ly/YMCA-Karl-Frisch (Under “Solicitor” be sure to select my name.)
I hope that you will consider making a donation to California YMCA Youth & Government by Friday’s noon fundraising deadline (on February 15th). You can make a one-time or recurring tax-deductible donation using the links in this blog post.
Like me, you probably receive many appeals each year. This is a program, however, where every contribution, whatever its size, truly does make a difference. Thank you in advance for your consideration of this important request for help.
The program’s motto is “Democracy Must Be Learned by Each Generation,” and with your financial support today, California YMCA Youth & Government can make that motto a reality for years to come.
Click here to donate: http://bit.ly/YMCA-Karl-Frisch (Under “Solicitor” be sure to select my name.)
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly.
Sincerely,
Karl Frisch
Former California YMCA Youth & Government Governor’s Cabinet Member (1994), State Senator (1995), Lieutenant Governor (1996), CONA Delegate (1994-1996), CONA Presiding Officer (1997).
If someone from the program has already contacted you seeking support, please disregard this message and help them out.
