Twitter Challenge: Build Our Twitter Community, Build Foster Home in Nicaragua

My name is Megan Lee and I am a Merrillville High Class of '06 graduate. Continuing the Region love, I chose to attend Valparaiso Universitysalt-logo for my undergraduate studies in International Studies & Mandarin Chinese.

To fill in the free time at college, I joined the group SALT (Social Action Leadership Team). This group seeks to embody Christ's calling for us to be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). SALT has taught me the importance of celebrating diversity and recognizing our common humanity, by actively pursuing opportunities to serve others both internationally and locally. SALT has given back to the Valparaiso community by participating annually in Day of Caring, Rebuilding Together, volunteering at the Valparaiso International Center, and other surrounding organizations, as well as serving as a natural liaison to students looking to become more involved in local organizations.

Each spring, SALT holds a large fundraiser to help a certain cause or organization from anywhere in the world. After holding an open application process throughout the fall semester, SALT leaders choose a project based on many factors, such as feasibility and sustainability. In the past, SALT has funded a water pipeline to a remote Chinese village, built a peanut butter factory to fight malnutrition in Malawi, and established a library in South Dakota, just to name a few.

This year, SALT is raising money to construct a foster home in Nicaragua. Our project, titled "CASAS FOR KIDS: from House to Hope," aims at raising $12,500 by the close of the spring semester. Beyond simply fund raising, SALT seeks to educate both campus and surrounding communities not only on facts about Nicaragua, such as "Nicaragua is second only to Haiti as the poorest nation in the western hemisphere," but also the effects that a safe, secure, and nurturing home can have on children.

This is where TWITTER comes in. twitter

I (@peglegmeg) convinced SALT to create their own Twitter account (@SALTatVU), boasting regularly about the strength of the Twitter community in northwest Indiana. Being a firm believer in the potential of Twitter, I exclaimed of its ability to make connections with others, and how it is an essential tool for community outreach. Through our account, we have tweeted links to more information on our project, kept the community up to date on our total, and described ways to donate to Casas for Kids.

However, I have not tangibly seen the fruits of this labor (and though I know it is working) I want to nominally convince SALT leaders and university officials that regular tweeting is a worthy time investment, and it is a no-frills opportunity to strengthen the connection between the campus community and the surrounding communities.

Okay, so here's the deal #nwindiana #valpo. I have a challenge.

As we are reaching the end of our semester at Valparaiso University, SALT still needs to raise about $1800 to achieve our $12,500 goal. As the @SALTatVU account has 159 followers, I am CHALLENGING THE TWITTER COMMUNITY TO DONATE ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY 159 BRICKS FOR our cause. Bricks in Nicaragua cost ~ US$2 each, so that is $320. We can build up our local Twitter community while building a house for a Nicaraguan community!

All that you need to do is go to the link at the end of my shpiel, click the "give online" button and be sure to put "Casas for Kids: TWITTER" in the memo line. $159 is enough to buy almost 70 bricks for our home- wow!

Even if you do not have your own Twitter account but are kindly feeling generous enough to donate to our cause, please utilize the same memo (for simplicity's sake). Also, if online money transfers are not your style, find more information about our other support options here: http://www.valpo.edu/chapel/salt/wrc.php

So, #nwi, band together and please help SALT help Nicaragua today! Any and all donations are graciously appreciated.

CLICK ME: http://www.valpo.edu/chapel/salt/index.php

please RT: calling all #nwi tweeps! help #valpo 's @SALTatVU help Nicaragua by donating $1 to the TWITTER CHALLENGE http://bit.ly/cxARyR