Happy Holidays! 

I hope you are having a lovely holiday season spent with family and loved ones. I'd like to take a little bit of your time to tell you about an upcoming endeavor that is of great important to me. Next year, from March 12th to the 19th, I will be traveling to Panama as part of Global Brigades @ Marshall, with the goal of providing strategic business consulting services to rural communities in order to sustain their economic growth. This will be my second time traveling as part of Global Brigades, as last spring I went to Honduras on a micro-finance brigade. This time I am going back as a program leader, leading a group of twenty USC undergrads to deliver pro- bono strategy consulting to support micro-enterprises in rural Panama. Last year, my experiences in Granadilla, Honduras truly opened my eyes to the good we are all capable of affecting if we take to time to empathize with others and look beyond ourselves. Once again, I am extremely excited to exercise the knowledge I have gained from my college career to take part in such a rich learning experience and have the opportunity to leverage my skills to directly affect positive change. 

Global Brigades is an entirely run student organization and we would greatly appreciate it if you could play a small part in supporting our cause. The total cost, covering airfare, lodging, food, transportation, and security, for a single person adds up to $1560. I would sincerely appreciate any amount you would be willing to donate to my upcoming trip and Global Brigade's mission of defeating poverty through holistic sustainability. If you are willing to offer us financial support please go to this link: 

https://www.globalbrigades.org/empowered/chapter/university-of-southern-california-business-brigades-chapter/brigade/university-of-southern-california-business-brigade-march-2017-panama

Click on donate, then under the “Destination” header, select the first choice and choose my name Candice Zheng when it states "Make a donation on behalf of a fundraiser." Or, if you prefer, you can write a check and send it my home address of 20774 Reid Lane, Saratoga CA. Any amount will be greatly appreciated and every single penny will go towards the struggling communities in Panama. 

Thank you so much for your time and have a wonderful holiday break! Looking forward to updating you all about my experiences in Panama. 

Sincerely,

Candice Zheng