There are many ways to support NYOF!

People from all walks of life who care about impoverished children have found creative, fun, and easy ways to raise money and awareness about the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation. You can do many of these ideas yourself! Please contact us at info@nyof.org or 1-866-FOR-NYOF to discuss the possibilities.

Here are a few examples to inspire you:

11-year-old Clara S. of Elmhurst, IL's plan to save an enslaved girl: Dear Dad, I want you to consider the following: You may remember watching a TV show about girls being sold in Nepal. It was really sad and I want to help them. If we cut back on things for one month, we can get the money to save one. My plan is as follows: 1. Don't go out to dinner 4x, $60 2. Ride our bikes to school 4x, $4 3. Have a Sunday night "lights out"     again (helps environment too), $6 4. Eat spaghetti each week, $20 5. Find change around the house, $10 That is $100. Enough to save a girl and send her to school for one year. Go to this site and put your credit card in. Please say yes or I will have to bug you if you say no. I love you. Clara

Bake sales and lemonade stands are fun and easy ways to raise a surprising amount of money while informing people about NYOF and impoverished children in Nepal.
• Rachel of Marin, California says, "I was able to organize a group of friends and we had three large bake sales, raising enough money to take eight girls out of indentured servitude." They made more than $750!
• A Canadian donor sold cappuccinos at a neighborhood fair to raise funds. He created a poster board with pictures of NYOF projects to encourage donations.
• His wife, a superb baker, sells her yummy creations through a website, with all profits going to NYOF.

Get sponsored! You can ask friends, family, and colleagues to sponsor you in almost any activity, from climbing a mountain to going on a diet.
• Pounds for Purpose: Fiona Hall of Charlotte, North Carolina raised money by losing weight. Fiona explains, "I solicited my friends and family to pledge money per pound for a time period of six months. I sent out monthly updates. What I was not prepared for was the shift of thought during this program. I went from 'what I want to look like' to 'who I am trying to help who is less fortunate.' My goal becomes something outside of myself and the choices between chocolate cake and indentured little girls becomes easy."
• Go trekking: Greg Mouroux went on a trek in Nepal and asked people to sponsor his effort. All the money went to NYOF. "Raising money for the Nepalese children completely change the feeling of this trip. It wasn't just a fun excursion for a couple of weeks, but a real and palpable contribution for an important cause and organization."
• Run a marathon: Another donor, a teacher, ran a marathon and had friends, family, parents of students, and coworkers sponsor him on NYOF's behalf.

Rosa Dingler with a mountain of recycling. She donates the income to NYOF!

Spread the word! This makes a huge difference in helping us raise funds to support Nepali children. You can tell your friends, family and colleagues about NYOF. A very effective way to do this is to host gatherings such as cocktail parties, barbeques, or tea parties, and discuss the plight of impoverished Nepalese children and NYOF's efforts to save them. Many people host fundraising events at their homes on NYOF's behalf. We can mail you brochures and recent newsletters to distribute, and a DVD to show your guests! Make money from recycling. Rosa Dingler of Maple Ridge, British Columbia recycles bottles and cans and donates the money to NYOF. She started by showing her neighbors slideshows of her trips to Nepal, which inspired them to help Nepali children. Rosa, 83 years old, rewards the people who help her in this effort with homemade jams and jellies.

Tell your friends online! An easy way to let people know about NYOF is to send people NYOF eCards, be friends with NYOF on Facebook, subcribe to our videos on YouTube, and follow NYOF's Twitter posts! You can send a message to everyone in your email address book about NYOF, and tell your Facebook friends and your Twitter followers about us. Be sure to send them the link to our website (www.NYOF.org).

Organize a dance! Lauri Neidell of San Anselmo, California organizes dances to rescue girls in rural Nepal from virtual slavery. People come to dance, and they also learn about NYOF and donate. Lauri says, "I raise money for NYOF because I love what they do for children in great need. I keep trying to imagine what it would be like to be a little girl and have all my hopes, dreams and family taken away from me and replaced with cruelty. I want all of these girls to be free and have a chance for a good life. NYOF makes this possible."

Donate proceeds from an art exhibit. • Susan Bostrom-Wong, an artist, hold art shows in San Francisco. A percentage of the proceeds of the sales, as well as a raffle, benefit children supported by NYOF. "I give to NYOF because it is one to the best NGOs that I know of. Every dollar goes a long way in Nepal and every child deserves a chance to be lifted out of poverty and oppression, especially the girls who are sold into bonded servitude." • Mary K. Fitzgerald Kew of San Francisco organized an exhibit of art with a goat theme, because NYOF gives goats to girls rescued from bonded servitude. "I had read the San Francisco Chronicle article about NYOF and was so touched that I asked 14 other artists to make a work of goat-art to sell to raise money for NYOF. I had set aside a Saturday for an opening reception. The local newspapers wrote about the event." Invite your friends to play a game of chance. Pam Nehrenz of Redwood City, California and her friends decided to "get together with friends and have fun while raising money for a selected charity. This group feels strongly about social justice." They get together periodically to play Bunco, a game of chance. Everyone brings some money for the pot and some for NYOF. Pam says, "We laugh, eat, share, play Bunco, and a couple of people win a little money!" The first time they did this, they raised $500. "After reading about the girls in Nepal who are not educated, or worse, sold for food, we told the group that up to five girls may now receive an education!"

Susan Bostrom-Wong will donate some of the proceeds from this painting to NYOF Mary Kew's painting of a former indentured servant with her goat

Start a club at your school! Aubrey Heth of Castle Rock, Colorado founded a club at her high school to raise money for needy children in Nepal. They sold candy canes attached to NYOF bookmarks during the holidays, and did an un-car wash in the summer, encouraging people to leave their cars dirty and give the money they would have spent at a car wash to NYOF! Aubrey says, "I know that I am so fortunate to have a roof over my head, an education, clothes on my back and food in my stomach. I want to give opportunities to children who don't have the opportunities that I have."

Sophie, whose birthday money will rescue girls from bondage

Ask for birthday donations for Nepali children instead of presents for yourself. • For his ninth birthday, Owen S. of Alameda, California generously asked his friends to give to NYOF instead of buying him gifts. • After her seventh birthday, Reva K. of Westport, Connecticut wrote to us, "I just had a birthday. My parents gave me $100 to give to a charity. I chose your charity because you save girls in Nepal and take them to school." A year later, her father Rahul told us, "By the time her eighth birthday came, Reva realized that the money her friends would pay to buy her gifts was more meaningful in the hands of your organization than in the form of a gift that didn't keep her interest for long." • Sue of British Columbia said, "My daughter Sophie just turned nine years old and decided to ask her friends to donate money for your Indentured Daughters Program instead of bringing a gift to her party." She raised $200, which rescued two girls from virtual slavery!

Sponsor a child. Many people sponsor needy children in Nepal. NYOF supports children through a wide range of programs, such as sponsorships for disabled students, scholarships for young children in remote villages, and full support at our children's homes for some of the most disadvantaged youth in Nepal. Find out more about sponsoring Nepali children Organize a trip through a volunteer organization. An organization called One Dollar For Life (ODFL) brought a group of American students to Nepal to build a school in a rural village. The students all paid their own way. 84 kindergarten and first-grade children now attend the school, which has three classrooms, toilets, and a playground.

A school in Nepal being built by volunteers

You can help in many other ways!

Each year, a Girl Scout troop in California raises money for the Indentured Daughters Program by holding a sale of crafts and other items.

A Nepali-American who heads a computer company donated an enormous amount of time to create this web site.

Many donors, with NYOF's cooperation, have sold jewelry and other items, with a portion of the profits going to NYOF.

A dentist donated all the proceeds from teeth-whitening procedures to NYOF.

The children from a public school in New York studied many aspects of Nepal and its culture as their annual project, and raised a substantial sum by cooking and serving a lunch of Nepalese food for their teachers, serving breakfast for their parents, and making greeting cards and posters. One student wrote, "Nepal taught me a lot. Not everyone has a life as good as ours. We shouldn't take for granted things like school."

We could go on and on. If you're thinking about getting involved in supporting impoverished children in Nepal in a more hands-on way than donating money, please contact us at info@nyof.org or 1-866-FOR-NYOF. We'll be happy to discuss the possibilities!