I have a 14 year old niece who is in 7th grade in school. As you may or may not be aware, April is National Child Abuse Awareness Month. She lived through the horror on the news up in New York of Nixmary Brown who was murdered by her stepfather for retrieving a carton of yogurt from the refrigerator. She wants to start a petition to circulate within her school for people to sign and, ultimately, to send it to President Obama. She also would like to hold a fundraiser, either a musical concert, or bake sale, to raise funds for abused children. My sister asked me for my advice about it, but I'm not sure what to tell her. Should she start with the principal of her school, or the Superintendent of Schools for permission to circulate said petition? And, I know it's ambitious, but how would we go about establishing a fund dedicated to abused children? I know you're not lawyers - just general advice would be appreciated here. You've all been very helpful to me already. I could not be prouder of this child were she mine and she has an amazing heart to want to do something like this. Thanks all.
Hold a meeting with her principal. He/She should be able to tell you if he needs to escalate it. He might do it just in case, as I don't see this being a big deal. Whats the petition about?
Her teacher would be the first start. Said teacher could either spearhead, or give advise where to go from there. As for account, if it ever gets to this level, talk to your Banker. Most banks can set up special accounts for fund-raisers that will allow special priveledges. Great great idea your niece has. Let us know how it all turns out.
I'm sorry I didn't explain clearly. The petition is for people to sign if they are against child abuse. Not quite sure why my niece wants to send it to President Obama. My sister called me today and asked for my help and I don't want to dash my niece's dreams. We haven't completely formulated any kind of plan yet, which is why I needed some advice. Thank you so, so much!
Don't really have a private banker - wish I did - lol. I'll have my sister speak with her teacher tomorrow and I'll definitely let everyone know how it turns out. Thank you.
Do you have a bank account? That's all you need. Any bank should be able to start a new account for you.
You can also start a free petition online and circulate it that way; I recently did the same thing for my parents over a minor issue and it makes it easy to get others involved. After informing the school and local organizations, go to http://www.petitiononline.com and write a petition for her. Once you feel like you have enough signatures then you just print it off and mail it to Obama. If it doesn't take off then so be it, but then again there is no reason it could not. I'm fairly good with words, if you get me a draft I will gladly knock it into shape for you to sound as professional as possible. If you want to stay fully online for the process, you can also dedicate a PayPal account for the drive so you are never actually handling any money. The next step would be a website supporting her cause, but that's a little above my skill level. I'm sure there's someone on the Phins that finished out a website design course though...hopefully they speak up.
