How Avocados Got Me to Costa Rica

by Dariella Fernandez, Greenheart Travel Volunteer Abroad Participant in Costa Rica

Like most people, my fundraising began with a struggle. I didn’t know who I should send my letters to, or what the letter should contain, or how much money I should ask for. The example fundraising letter on the Greenheart Travel website helped a lot, I just copy and pasted, changed a few things around, and added some info here and there to make the perfect letter.

My next worries were if my letter writing campaign would be enough and, if not, what could I do to raise more money? To get a great idea, all I had to do was look in my back yard, where there are two huge avocado trees. I thought, “who doesn’t love avocados?” From there I found a cardboard box and filled it with Hass and Bacon avocados. I walked house to house around my neighborhood selling them for a dollar each or six for five dollars. I told my neighbors all about how I was going to volunteer in Costa Rica and in just one hour I made $87! Most everybody I asked bought some, and many gave me an additional donation of anywhere from five to twenty-five bucks!

This huge success motivated me to go to garage sales that my friends were having and sell my avocados there. I also took a huge box to work and my fellow employees loved them and asked me to bring them more! From avocados, I made almost $300, and including my letters I fundraised over $1,500. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this worked and I’m sure it can work for others as well. All you need is a box of good fruit!