Help Southwest Robotics Team 2129 get to Houston!

Quick Read-Out: Southwest Robotics Team 2129-Ultraviolet won the Seven Rivers Regional in La Crosse this past weekend, qualifying us to compete in the World Championship in Houston in JUST 2 DAYS! The championship starts on April 17, 2024, and we will compete with teams from all over the world! Please help us raise money to get to Houston. (More payment options below.)

Background Story: Our regular budget does not cover the Championship, so this is a request for funding to help us register and travel to the competition.

This is our second Championship in the last three years so we know how to travel light. Like last time, we will share a coach bus (24 hours on the road each way) with another team, double up in hotels, and prepare our own food whenever possible. Even with care to economize, the trip will cost about $30,000 for ~24 students and mentors.

The competition where we qualified was incredible. In an early round, we finished one point below the competitor we least wanted to face in the final. In the final, our first round ended by beating them by just one point. We took the second round of the final by fourteen points, clinching the win. It was a nail-biter to the very end!

On this trip to the Championship, we will be competing on the field and have both a student and mentor competing for individual awards. Haley, a Dean’s List finalist at La Crosse, will be seeking one of ten winning spots globally. Our mentor, Tim, is in the running for the Woodie Flowers award at the global level. In addition to seeking awards in FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), the trip offers a chance to see the best FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robots to help us as we mentor our middle schoolers. And, we’ll have underclassmen touring the pits with the sages as we bring them up to speed on concepts, technologies, and best practices for the seasons ahead.

Event website: https://www.firstchampionship.org/event-guide-houston-info

Team website: https://www.swrobotics.com/

If you are able to contribute, here are the options:

1) GoFundMe

2) Mail a check:

Payee: Minneapolis Southwest Robotics Foundation - Team 2129

Address: 6417 Penn Ave S. Ste 8, IPMB 1020

Minneapolis, MN 55423

3) If you work for a company that matches donations, FIRST provides a link to help understand your company’s matching policy. Please check to see if your employer will provide additional funds to the team.

https://www.firstinspires.org/ways-to-give/workplace-giving-corporate-matching

Please be generous, these students have worked so hard to get here!

Thank you so much for your support!

FRC Team 2129