Hello friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors!

Thank you all for visiting the Crowdfunding Challenge page for Community Connections. In a nutshell, Community Connections is a web-based app and non-profit organization that is committed to bringing community members together to support each other’s needs and help neighborhood small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic. LIKE US ON FACBOOK  SIGNUP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER 

As many of you might know, I have been busy supporting many of California's statewide efforts during the pandemic to help save lives and support healthy neighborhoods through my career in public health. As proud as I am of much of the work that I’ve done, my inspiration for Community Connections has come from watching my own neighborhood’s struggles with so many people out work, businesses failing, and virus outbreaks.

I’ve realized that in order to rise above the pandemic, Sacramento neighbors will have to come together to support one another and give freely to those who are the most in need. Community Connections is a platform to allow volunteers to search for available volunteer opportunities and connect to organizations and neighbors who are seeking volunteers directly through the app. Volunteer opportunities posted on the app could include feeding the homeless, donating blood, building a website for a neighborhood non-profit, or helping a local church clean downtown Sacramento’s streets. Volunteers will be entered into drawings for gift cards and other prizes that support local small businesses.

Luckily, the Clinton Foundation has agreed to generously support Community Connections through a seed funding grant and provide us with mentorship, consulting, and expertise. Unfortunately, I will need more funding to get this off the ground. If I’m able to reach my target, the money raised will help me be able to;

·       Pay software developers to help me build the app

·       Web hosting and webpage design

·       Register Community Connections as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

·       Collaborate with photographers, designers, and social media marketers

·       Hire two part-time student interns from Sac State’s public health program

·       Buy volunteer gift cards and other prizes to support local Sacramento businesses

My ultimate goal is to raise $8,000.00 in funding, but my early milestones will be $2,000.00 and $5,000.00. Please give if you can, every little bit makes a difference! If you don’t have anything to give, even sharing this GoFundMe page with others who might be interested through social media, emails, or text would really help me out!

My initial fundraising campaign will on August 10, 2020 and last through August 28,2020. Please help me give bring the Sacramento community together so we can come together and survive this!

Thank you so much to everyone!

Ryan Skaggs 
Executive Director, Community Connections


This campaign is part of the 2020 Clinton Global Initiative University COVID-19 Student Crowdfunding Challenge.