Hello! My name is Ginger Howard, and I am a 12th grader at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California. In 2023, I started a non-profit called Chains4Change in which I provide bicycles to children living in rural Guatemala. This serves as a mode of transportation to ensure they get the level of education that they need and deserve. Originally, I was inspired to create Chains4Change because I am a captain of my schools Mountain Biking team and am an avid mountain biker. From this, I wanted to find a way to connect my passion to something that really matters. Additionally, once I help students find transportation to specific schools in rural Guatemala, I also help them set up chrome-books so they have better access to information and further learning opportunities. The school I am currently working with is called Instituto Mixto de Educacion Cooperativa Nocturna located in Santiago Atitlan.

This school, located in a remote area of Guatemala, is a night school and a majority of their students work during the day to attend school at night. The specific students I am currently working with work exhausting jobs in the fields from 8am-4pm, before walking for about an hour to attend school from 5-10pm. They then must walk an hour home at night. With access to bikes, these kids can attend school at a higher rate and cut the amount of time it takes for travel to 1/4 of the time.

It is proven that education is the key to getting children and families out of poverty. Receiving an education creates better job opportunities with higher wages, and opens the door to many resources and other opportunities that families in poverty lack. An addition of chrome-books at this school will improve the quality of education these students are receiving, creating even more opportunities for these children and the community as a whole. Computers will give the students access to educational programs such as Duo-Lingo to learn different languages, google docs and more platforms to increase their ability to learn and prepare for jobs after they graduate from school.

I have made several trips to Guatemala in search of the right schools and students to partner with and I have had success in the past year delivering bikes to a similar school. I am pleased to say that my project has worked and shows to be sustainable. I now ask you to join me in my mission to help more students gain access to an education, and to raise the levels of education that they will receive.

A donation of $350 will grant a student a bike, and a donation of $200 will grant a student a computer to use at school. Your donations do not have to match these amounts, any donation matters. thank you so much for your support!