Earlier this year, 10-year-old Nathaniel Crossley launched a fundraiser for the African Well Fund with the goal of raising $2,000-5,000 for a water and sanitation project at 30 schools in Malawi and Tanzania.
By selling T-shirts, making presentations, attending events and getting press in Canada for his fundraiser, the Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, native far exceeded his goal. Here, he shares a few highlights from his fundraiser.
What was your most-successful fundraiser?
World Water Day [where] I raised almost $6,000. A lot of cool people visited like Mayor Melissa Blake, Mike Allen and Don Scott. I visited and spoke at various schools and set up booths in Fort McMurray. I also had a donation from the Fort McMurray Rotary group and CUPE [Canadian Union of Public Employees] at a convention in Edmonton raised $1,350 for me.
How did you maintain your energy and enthusiasm to fundraise throughout this drive?
I never gave up and just wanted to meet my goal. When I reached $2,000, I wanted to raise $4,000, then I met that goal and waited to raise $7,000 and then ended up with $9,000.
How did you feel when you learned how much money you’d raised?
Awesome and great. I was worried at first because it was going slow but when word got out, it was going fast.
If you’d like to start a fundraiser for the African Well Fund, please e-mail info@africanwellfund.org.
