Student Sponsor Partnership

This will be my first marathon and I’ve decided to fundraise for Student Sponsor Partners as it has deeply impacted our family. My partner, Henry, is a 1997 graduate of the program and since then has sponsored five students and serves as the chair of the SSP Leadership Council. SSP transformed Henry’s life and without it our lovely family may not be here today. To learn more about SSP’s impact take a look at this video below where Henry speaks about his experience:


https://www.dropbox.com/s/7k2iyebdk2oanm6/2017_Parsons_Community_Impact_Awards_-_Henry_Flores_%28Source%29.mp4?dl=0

More About SSP:

In the midst of the high school dropout crisis of the 1970s, investment banker and former political aide Peter Flanigan piloted an idea to help New York City’s most at-risk youth graduate on time and escape the cycle of poverty. An advocate for education access and school choice, he paired students with caring individuals to fund their education at quality, private high schools and mentor them along the way. Seeing the results through the student successes, Peter decided to incorporate Student Sponsor Partners in 1986. The organization launched with 45 students and just two partner high schools and now has more than 1,100 students at 25 high schools across the city.


https://sspnyc.org

When I was 12 years old I was offered a scholarship that took me away to an excellent boarding school, and awarded me an education and high school experience that put me on a track in life that brought me all the way from a farm in Zimbabwe to the bright lights and ambition of New York City.

Understandable then, being in a position in life where I could begin giving back, that I wanted to pay my own experience forward by offering a scholarship to a deserving candidate. After I began investigating the options, I came across Student Sponsor Partners, a charitable organization that offers inner city school youths a position in a NY private high school paired with a mentor. 7 years later, I have financed and mentored two great boys through high school. For more about SSP please visit www.sspnyc.com

In March I am climbing 19,341ft to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Fairly big deal for me in my pampered Manhattan life. (…I am particularly concerned about the no-toilet situation.) That said, I'm doing it, and I would like to use the opportunity to raise funds for SSP which is where you can play a part.

Please help me raise enough funding to provide another couple of young people a quality high school education by clicking on the [donate now] link above. This cause may not be a grand ideal like curing cancer , but it provides a life-changing opportunity to young people, in my home city, who could quite possibly go on to cure cancer … No amount is too small, and any support you can show would be appreciated, massively, by me. Thank you!

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela