Last week, Mott Hall Bridges Academy principal Nydia Lopez took the stage in front of her 195 students and made an announcement: a school fundraiser to send the Brooklyn middle schoolers on a trip to Harvard had not only met its $100,000 goal, but had miraculously raised more than $700,000.
That number, as of Tuesday afternoon, had jumped to $1,179,873.
“The scholars of MHBA are inspiring the entire world,” Lopez said during a recent school assembly. “People have written me letters from New Zealand, England and South Africa, telling me that they care about you.”
“Before all of this happened for our school, I felt broken. And I think the world felt a little broken too, because a lot of bad things have been happening lately, especially between black people and white people. But all of you gave people a reason to feel a little less broken. And the craziest thing about all of this is that it’s happening in Brownsville. Before this, people watched the news and read the newspapers, and some people even thought that all we do here is fight and act crazy. But now there are so many people out there that care about you and want to know more about you. People are even emailing me and asking if they can meet you and mentor you. Not just people from Brownsville, not just people from Brooklyn, not just people in New York, but people all over the world. So I need all of you to work a little harder. Whenever you don’t feel like doing your homework, I need you to remember that you’re helping tell the story of Brownsville to people all over the world.” – We are currently profiling Mott Hall Bridges Academy, a middle school in the under-served neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn. As we learn about the school, its scholars, and its educators, we are also raising funds to provide a financial boost to the school’s mission. All funds raised over $700,000 are being used to establish a scholarship fund available to graduates of MHBA. The scholarship fund is named The Vidal Fund, after the young man who inspired the entire story. Nearly 30,000 people have donated so far. If you’d like to participate, you can do so by donating via the link in the bio. >A photo posted by Humans of New York (@humansofny) on Jan 28, 2015 at 3:39pm PST
Monique Achu, the programs director at the school, told The Huffington Post the kids were in “disbelief.” After all, how could a small academy, which shares a building with two other public schools in Brownsville, Brooklyn — one of the city’s poorest, most crime-ridden neighborhoods — suddenly be the subject of so much attention and good will? The teachers had to emphasize to the students that this “wasn’t a joke.”
It all started with a chance encounter between a 13-year-old student named Vidal Chastanet and photographer Brandon Stanton — the man behind one of the Internet’s most popular photo blogs, Humans of New York.
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That makes the money raised by Humans of New York, donated by nearly 40,000 people from around the world, a true windfall for the school. There will now be enough money to send the young scholars to Harvard every year for 10 years. The money will also be used to fund summer learning programs and to give out yearly scholarships to Mott Hall alum as they go to college.
And the first recipient of that scholarship will be none other than Vidal Chastanet, the young man who started it all.
“I think he’s a little surprised at how big a thing this has turned into,” Achu said of the young student.
Honestly, from just speaking those words [to Stanton], he has helped his future tremendously,” Achu said.
I asked Vidal if I could photograph him in the same place that I met him for this next announcement. In only four days, we’ve raised over $700,000 for Vidal’s classmates at Mott Hall Bridges Academy. Nearly 25,000 of you have made a donation. Taken together, these donations have provided funding for ten years worth of Harvard trips, and ten years worth of summer programs. Your donations have given a heavy boost to a group of scholars and educators in their battle to establish a culture of success in a disadvantaged neighborhood. There was an assembly today where the full impact of the fundraiser was explained to all of the students, and it was quite emotional. (But more on that later.) I wanted to announce that all funds raised over $700,000 will be reserved for a final purpose. We are starting a scholarship fund available to the graduates of Mott Hall Bridges Academy. A committee of MHBA educators and administrators will choose the recipients each year. We’re going to use the money from our campaign to get the fund started, but we’re also going to lay tracks so that it can continue to assist scholars for years to come. It will be called The Vidal Scholarship Fund. And the first recipient will be Vidal himself. If you’d like to contribute, please click on the link in the bio.* *Indiegogo may not be loading properly due to the traffic. If this is the case, please check back later tonight. >A photo posted by Humans of New York (@humansofny) on Jan 26, 2015 at 5:55pm PST
The fundraiser ends Tuesday, Feb. 10. You can go here to donate.
