Send Cody to Portland

Hi!  My Name is Cody Rodriguez and I am a Senior Design student in Columbus, Ohio.  For my Senior Capstone project, I have been blessed with the incredible opportunity to work with the Seattle Storm's starting point guard, Jewell Loyd.  I am designing a conceptual Nike Signature shoe for Jewell and now have the opportunity to go back out to Portland and Seattle to personally create the shoe and present it to Jewell.  I first visited Jewell 5 weeks ago, paying for the whole trip and experience out of pocket.  Now I have been able to secure an oppportunity with a team at Pensole academy in order to create Jewell's shoe.  Because creating a custom shoe is so unique, this is regularly a 5 day workshop ranging from $2,000 to $6,000.  I have been able to reduce the price and workshop time to 3 days and $1500 to $1800 (depending on hours in the shop and materials).  After travel, housing and dining expenses, the total trip cost will be between 2,000 and 2,400...and this time around, I can not afford to financially support myself on my own.

This is where I NEED YOUR HELP!

Since, I cannot afford to fund this trip by myself, I am asking you to help support my trip!  Everything helps, whether it be $5 or $500! If you know someone who would want to be a part of supporting me and would be willing to get involved, please share this with them! Though the goal is set at $2,000, the more I raise, the more premium I can make the shoe.  The planned dates for the trip are currently April 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 after travel and workshop days.  I would need all funds by that date, but since I will need to purchase tickets, book a place to stay and confirm the workshop, I would appreciate the financial support as soon as possible (ideally before April 20th).

The opportunity to work with a professional athlete rarely occurs even for professional designers.  Not only have I been given the chance to do this, but I now have been presented with an even more impactful, educational and unique opportunity to create a functional pair of signature shoes for a professional athlete.  Something that even veteran designers don't often get to do.  Footwear design is something that I would love to do in the future, and I believe that this is a major step in learning and preparing to do that.

I would love to talk more about my project, my design and this trip if you have any questions or comments! Feel free to shoot me an email or call me anytime! Due to confidentiality issues, I cannot post images from this project regarding the actual design.  However, if you would like to see pictures of progress before committing to financially supporting me, please let me know and we can work something out!  Also, If you do not feel comfortable donating through GoFundMe or simply would prefer to donate another way, just let me know!

Thank you so much for considering being a part of a team in sending my to Portland to not just make a shoe, but to fulfill a dream for both myself and Jewell!