Editor’s note: This article was first published in October 2013, as a news story of that month. The amounts raised ($5,000 in 27 hours, close to $8,000 at the time of writing) and the student’s status as a sophomore are as of then.
Alexis-Brianna Felix is a young Latina woman raised in the poor neighbourhoods of the Bronx. Both she and her family did everything possible, and the impossible, so that she could go to university. Part of that dream came true: Alexis became the first person in her family to attend university, as a sophomore at Boston University‘s College of Communication, with a long list of achievements already behind her.
The problem Alexis faces is that her family can no longer afford to pay for her next semester at Boston University. They tried to negotiate with the university, but despite her potential, the university itself told her that if she didn’t raise the money she would be out and unable to continue her degree.
After exhausting all her options, Alexis turned to one last resort, since she had to raise the money in less than two months.
Desperation led her to create a page on GoFundMe, a crowdfunding website geared not so much towards businesses as towards personal projects.
Her message said something like this:
“I have worked exceptionally hard to get here. I love the university and what I’m doing. I have done very well academically, socially and emotionally, but not financially. I come from the Bronx, where I was raised in a low-income family with my mother and three sisters, but I was lucky that my mother placed great importance on education. I don’t like asking for money, but a wise woman once told me that pride is for tomorrow.”
Alexis asked people not to see the money as a donation but as an investment in her success, and promised to pay back every cent to the people who supported her.
When Alexis turned to the site, she hoped to receive part of the money she needed while she kept looking elsewhere.
(Read: Sophia Amoruso: how I made my first $250 million)
To the young student’s surprise, she reached the $5,000 she needed in just 27 hours. The incredible thing is that once the goal was reached, people kept donating, and she has now raised close to $8,000. Alexis has written again to thank each and every one of the people who helped her, since thanks to them she has the money to stay at university.
Some messages have appeared in which the “donors” encourage her to pursue her dreams and congratulate her on her courage in swallowing her pride and asking publicly for help.
Others have made it clear that they are not giving money to a girl who asks for it, but helping a young woman who has shown herself to be a fighter and to persevere in pursuing her dreams.
What is clear is that, once again, people’s generosity can be mobilised by specific cases. Something in this world hasn’t been completely spoiled yet. We can also see how crowdfunding keeps establishing itself as a source of funding not only for businesses; it could end up playing a very important role in personal micro-loans.
In the United States, crowdfunding through new platforms is even starting to compete with student loans from financial institutions.
Further reading
Featured image: Fletcher6, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
