What is Make the Change?
Make the Change (MTC) is NOT a licensed non profit organization, nor an official organization of any kind (at least for now!). Right now MTC is merely a balloon name that encompasses the many ideas and projects of Cassandra Laurenzo and her efforts in Ghana helping reach out to others that are less fortunate. In collaboration with other non profit organizations striving to reach the same goals, Cassandra helps to reach personal goals whether tied to an organization or not, in helping people...and quite literally, "making change" in people's lives.
Many ideas and efforts are currently tied into other organizations through partnerships, although not all, and are are NOT NECESSARILY THAT ORGANIZATIONS PROJECT, nor do they officially support or sponsor these projects.
Overall, we all are working towards similar goals and do whatever we can to support and further those goals.
How did MTC begin?
In October of 2007, Cassandra Laurenzo (Cassie), had been working diligently to catch up on financials so she could return to university. As a senior in high school, she began attending college full time before transferring after her high school graduation to California State University Northridge. With an interest in physical therapy and a passion for kids, she initially began studying kinesiology for children with disabilities specifically focusing on autism before returning to the business field. Though her major changed, her passion had not and children always stayed at the forefront of her life. After being forced to take a few years off from school and going through some trivial times in her personal life, she decided to travel before returning to school. While she still has plans to return to school this coming winter, she realized that volunteering is her life goal...the one thing that drives her each and every day.
The choice was between Italy and Ghana and all signs pointed to Ghana. Located in West Africa it provided a safe country to visit on her own. She was matched with Golden Era International School (GEIS) in the capital city of Accra and her love for the people began. After traveling nearly the entire country, she was able to at least catch a glimpse of the lives of the Ghanaian people and realized the potential. The love that shined through the community, the focus on family and friends, and the eagerness to learn in the eyes of the children was all she needed to realize that these people needed help and though she didn't have the resources, she had access to them.
Upon returning to the states, ideas turned into projects that make up the Make the Change program. The name specifically derived from her job as a bartender/server where often times she would round up to the nearest dollar when giving guests change to avoid the hassle of carrying actual change. After learning that $0.25 really DOES feed a child for a day, suddenly every penny counted and that extra ten cents she'd give to a guest mattered.
With every $50 earned in spare change through herself and coworkers, a scholarship is formed a child in Ghana.
Since she was a little girl, she always told her mom that she never wanted to be famous or rich, but more that she wanted to change one persons life so drastically that it was because of her.
Title.
The choice was between Italy and Ghana and all signs pointed to Ghana. Located in West Africa it provided a safe country to visit for her first time traveling outside of Canada, not to mention she was traveling alone at just 21 years old. She was matched with Golden Era International School (GEIS) in the capital city of Accra and her love for the people began. After traveling nearly the entire country, she was able to at least catch a glimpse of the lives of the Ghanaian people and realized the potential. The love that shined through the community, the focus on family and friends, and the eagerness to learn in the eyes of the children was all she needed to realize that these people needed help and though she didn't have the resources, she had access to them.
Upon returning to the states, ideas turned into projects that make up the Make the Change program. The name specifically derived from her job as a bartender/server where often times she would round up to the nearest dollar when giving guests change to avoid the hassle of carrying actual change. After learning that $0.25 really DOES feed a child for a day, suddenly every penny counted and that extra ten cents she'd give to a guest mattered.
With every $50 earned in spare change through herself and coworkers, a scholarship is formed a child in Ghana.
Since she was a little girl, she always told her mom that she never wanted to be famous or rich, but more that she wanted to change one persons life so drastically that it was because of her.
