Making a Difference in Uganda - and For Nonprofits Too

Meet Roman Garcia. Roman is one of the stars of our eBay Giving Works team, helping our Community buy and sell to support nonprofits. He recently shared a fantastic story with us about his friend's organization that helps villagers in Uganda. Not only was he able to directly help the cause, but his story shows just how easy it is to get nonprofits involved with eBay Giving Works so that they can expand their reach and benefit from eBay sales. It's a great example of how someone can make a difference, even if they don't have much to buy and sell themselves. Take it away Roman....

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I openly express to anyone within earshot that I have the best job at eBay (no offense Meg). I work with thousands of nonprofits, companies with hearts, and the occasional celebrity. And the one thing in common they all have is that they use eBay Giving Works.

Despite my daily proclamations of "best job ever", funny enough, one of my friends didn't even know what I did at eBay! So Gwen (the friend, and not Stefani who's doing her own charity auctions) one day asked if I'd donate some clothes for an upcoming trip to Uganda. 

I wasn't sure why she was going to Uganda, so I asked, "So Gwen, why Uganda?"

"Uganda is home to many homeless and parentless children ravaged by AIDS and civil wars. My nonprofit, Asayo's Wish, focuses on one specific village."

Already with a lump in my throat, I asked her what was needed from me.

"Honestly, they need so much that a little is a lot to them. Our goal is to someday make things different than what is the norm in Uganda, and this village. Children sleep 40 to a small room; they line up 300 at a time for food and water. Preventable illnesses that seem insignificant to us are life-threatening to them".

After Gwen's answers, I decided to rally the troops to get some clothes. Without much trouble, I got eBay hats and shirts donated from groups in Salt Lake City and San Jose. But in all the excitement I forgot for a second what I did at eBay! So I explained to her about the eBay Giving Works program and how we partner with MissionFish to help nonprofits similar to Asayo's Wish.

Her response was, "Do you have to be a big nonprofit to participate?" And I said NO! That's the best part about this program. You can be the Red Cross or a small nonprofit in  Salt Lake City like Asayo's Wish! The program is designed to support any size organization, and we do so equally.

Three weeks later Gwen came back with these incredible pictures, and I have never been more proud about the company I work for! Asayo's Wish will soon be joining over 10,000 other nonprofits that are part of eBay Giving Works. Their goal is to raise money through direct and community selling, so they can return to Uganda to start building new living quarters for over 300 children.

I plan to list some items to benefit them once they've been added to our directory, and I'd encourage you to join me! Or even better, I encourage you to find a nonprofit you support and tell them how easy it is to join. You can even recommend the nonprofit directly to MissionFish at http://www.missionfish.org/NPMMF/npregrecommend1.jsp.

It's a great (and relatively simple) way to make a difference.