Poker Gives Back, take three...

Current amount raised= $1110

5 players pledging 10% of December and January profits.

Hey guys, I'm happy to finally be setting a project up like this again as it's been far too long. You all have been fantastic in helping with my friends Amy and Sara in the past, and I hope this situation is no different.

A lot of you blog or talk about how poker is really unfulfilling (I agree) and want to do other things with it. My friend Monica is doing work for the betterment of the world at her own cost. I can't really speak for you all because I don't know everyone here but that is certainly more then I have ever done.

Monica has a heart for serving others and is making it her goal in life to make the world a better place. She has a blog of her own so i'll just let that do the talking...

"Dear friends and family members,

I have always had a heart for serving others, and thanks to my parents, church, and school, I have had many opportunities to do so in the past. I firmly believe that throughout the world people are united as children of God in the human family. This conviction has lead me to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of North Texas. While attending UNT my passion for issues of human rights has grown with my education. In the coming fall I will begin attending graduate school to earn an advanced degree in psychology for the purposes of providing therapy for refugees, displaced populations, and survivors of human rights violations. I will also conduct research in the home countries of these populations to better foster post trauma recovery and growth. In order to tailor my graduate studies to this specific cause, I need practical experience working first hand with these populations, preferably in other parts of the world.

This brings me to the purpose of this letter. I have been accepted for an international voluntary internship with a nonprofit organization, The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD), which will place me in Jinja, Uganda (located in East Africa) for close to five months. The purpose of my internship will be to work closely with a grassroots organization to develop specific programming to promote sustainable community development. This experience will be a dream come true for me as I have wanted to work in Uganda since high school. In addition to working with a specific organization, I will also attend training sessions put on by FSD to learn how to write grants, conduct needs assessments, and be exposed to specific methods and difficulties in promoting sustainable development at the grassroots level. I will also be living in a house with a local family, where I will share meals, daily routines, and hopefully build lasting relationships.

I am thrilled about the opportunity to share my strengths with this community and learn about developing communities in a manner that encourages future growth. I will most likely be working in a social work setting with people living with HIV/AIDS, so the skills I will learn and the experiences I will have will directly contribute to my ability to provide holistic treatment and therapy for clients in the future. But because it is a voluntary internship with a nonprofit, there is a considerable cost for the program. I will be arriving in Uganda February 26 and staying until mid June. $8,000 will cover the costs of my flight, in country transportation, three meals a day as well as other living expenses, and training sessions. $200 of this will also go directly to the organization I will be working with as seed money for sustainable program development."

-Monica

The amount of money for the trip is quite a hefty sum. Given that we have 2.5 months to come up with the money, I think a goal of 3-4k is very appropriate.

I've already scheduled a benefit tournie on-

Pokerstars

December 16th

Tid- 337436718

$20

Password: Monica. (uppercase M)

Participants will be expected to donate at least half of tournie winnings to the cause.

Pledging a % of monthly profits is a great way to help out.

If you do just want to donate, ship to reasons14 on stars/fulltilt and hit me up on skype/leave a comment etc.

I'll be announcing what I am doing as far as private coaching soon as well. We already have quite a few donators to the cause. I'm looking forward to seeing what you all can do with this. Thanks for reading,

-Benjamin

Kylemillion- $150

Piratos14- $150

wbmustang- $100

bigloser2448 - $50+ 10% of profits in December and January

Eljay42- $50

yodaddy379- $50

MattGeer- $50

yomo20- $50+ 10% of profits in December and January

Bretty12345- $40

Rpeterson36- $25

mcc3504- $25

xboxlucas- 10% of profits in December and January

Lynzeb- 10% of profits in December and January

Reasons14- $250+ 10% of profits in December and January

Lesmit- Pending

Mrpaintball- pending

Bigbluffzinc- pending