<div>Joel and Levi Vasquez are both Venezuelan nationals and brothers who have been attending college in the United States. 
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<div>Joel graduated in May with a degree in International Relations from California State University at Chico, and has now been accepted into his schools masters program in Public Administration.  Last fall he participated in the national Model United Nations Congress in Seattle, giving a speech on global migration to over 60 delegates.  He hopes to one day work for a foundation or mission driven organization and is very community, service and solutions oriented.
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<div>His brother Levi, a senior in the College of HealthProfessions at New York’s PACE University, completed his undergraduate credits in Health Science this spring as well, while also taking graduate level courses this semester as part of a joint degree program with an invitation to join the school’s Masters of Pubic Health program in the fall.  This semester he is completing 21 credits and also held down two internships this year. He is passionate about healthcare, and public health, an interest which grew from the loss of his father to liver cancer when he was very young.   The experience made him want to learn more about how the body worked, and his own observation that his father’s condition might have been better with greater access to healthcare, and equity. In his internships, Levi has worked alongside physicians who have remarked on his innate empathy as a driver of his interest in healthcare. He has also volunteered his time at the community level with a local food bank translating for over 100 families per week. While in high school, Levi trained a technical nurse an interned in a hospital system in Chia, Colombia, receiving commendations for his work.
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<div>Both boys were raised solely by their mother, Maria, a former university professor in Venezuela, now living in Colombia.
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<div>VAEA has helped to support their college journey through an initial grant, and later by acting as fiscal sponsor for external grants and donations.
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<div>Their story is unique in some ways but sadly familiar in others. In 2016, the family was living in the town of Merida, with little access to food, or adequate shelter, as homes were being confiscated, and teenage boys were being recruited into gangs. The small income Maria, herself a former university professor, received from her position as a project manager in a small firm, vanished when the firm closed as the economic crisis deepened. Often having to wait hours on end for just the chance to buy food, the family’s situation was desperate.
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<div>At the same time, a member of VAEA’s advisory board, an American, happened to meet the family through a series of lucky coincidences, and was able to help them through friendship and occasional financial support. As conditions continued to deteriorate, he helped the family relocate to Bogota, paying their flights and relocation costs, and where both boys could complete high school, Maria could find work, and the family could gain a toehold.   They were one family amongst the 2 million Venezuelans settled in Colombia.
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<div>Over time he became a sort of surrogate uncle to the boys who had been raised without a father. As both boys approached their senior years in high school, their futures needed to be considered and as they were both soccer players, they were introduced by friends in America, to a soccer coach who had played on the Colombian national team, and a relationship was formed. When this coach became the head coach of a small community college in California, he wished to give both boys a spot on his newly forming team, thus giving them a shot at an education in the US. Joel and Levi left for America in the fall of 2021, supported by funds raised from friends and an informal support network. After community college they were both accepted to four year colleges with modest, but most welcome scholarships.
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<div>All additional funds necessary for their education have been raised through a support network and caring friends.
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<div>Both boys are honor society students, hard working and with a strong desire to give back.
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<div>Now they are approaching graduation, and in need of support to complete their tuition payments, and so that they may graduate.
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<div>Funds will go directly to support their outstanding tuition balances and graduate school tuition. 
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<div>VAEA is proud to have played a role in their journey and we hope you may consider helping Joel and Levi continue on their paths.
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<div>Thanks for your support!
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Anonymous

Lila Gault

Dashiell Lopez

Vicky Cordero

Donald Nelson

Joerg Starke

Ali Cordero Casal

COLLEGE EDUCATION FOR TWO EXCEPTIONAL VENEZUELAN STUDENTS

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

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fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

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Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

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Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

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fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

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charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

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categoryGroup

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Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

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Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

COLLEGE EDUCATION FOR TWO EXCEPTIONAL VENEZUELAN STUDENTS

Still $15,355 to go. Help us build momentum.