Overseas Service Trips, Family Rebuilds After a Fire & Animal Service

Jon and Luke Fain (Monroe, CT) are trying to raise $1,000 for Emmanuel's Education Fund. Jon met Emmanuel while volunteering in Ghana in 2010. "He was in an ESL class that I was teaching at an orphanage in Kasoa," Jon said. "He is an extremely bright, talented, and funny 16-year-old kid. Unfortunately, he has not been enrolled in school for over a year due to a lack of funding, and consequently has been struggling during that time."

Emmanuel's Education's GoFundMe Page has raised $550 so far.

The Lee Family Fund (New Canaan, CT) is raising money for a New Canaan family who lost all of their belongings in a house fire on January 15 2012. The GoFundMe page says, "Dan Lee left his home Sunday morning as many good dad's do, to go to the market to get ingredients to make his family homemade waffles. He returned an hour later to a blazing fire that destroyed their home and everything they’ve owned. Peggy Lee and daughter Kady and her two friends were woken by the dog barking. They came out of their bedrooms to find the house ablaze."

It goes on to say, "The Lee's lost so much more than their house. They lost all of their belongings and lifelong memories of their 30 years here in New Canaan."

An EARS Response Vehicle Fundraiser (Westport, CT) is trying to raise $3,000 for the Emergency Animal Response Service to buy a truck to assist communities in winter weather in times of need.

"Recently a local business offered to help our organization by selling us a truck from their fleet at an extremely reasonable price," the page says. "This truck comes already complete with the accessories and needs that we were considering which will instantly save us costs. As an organization of volunteers we must turn to our supporters, friends, and the public to help us reach our goal of obtaining this vehicle for community animal rescue response."

So far the organization has raised $643.

Lespwa-Hope for Haiti (Trumbull, CT) is a fundraiser to help send Ayesha Nomani to a village called Desab in Haiti this spring, where she plans to volunteer with a group of college students. "In this trip I will be teaching in the schools and possibly start building the secondary school for the village," she says. "And we will be holding 'Olympic Games' for the children of the villagers after school as a fun after school program. I want to go on this trip because my mother always taught me to help and educate ourselves and the world around us. She has taught me to dedicate myself to others in need."

Her goal is to raise $1,600 and $115 worth of donations were made so far.

A Jamaica Service Trip (Fairfield, CT) will be a learning experience for Alex Long and 10 other Fairfield University students volunteering in Kingston, Jamaica, from Jan. 3 to 13. The goal is to raise $600 and people have donated $330 to the GoFundMe page so far.