About this site
Allow me to start by highlighting four things about the University of Southern California that are very relevant to this project. Number one, Trojan Family is the name of the game. The term refers to students, alumni, staff, faculty, family, fans, and supporters of the university. One of USC’s greatest assets is a strong and dedicated network. The importance of the Trojan Family to USC can best be demonstrated by a story about USC President Steven Sample’s introduction as president in 1991. In preparation for his speech, Sample asked then-associate VP Martha Harris for advice on what topics to mention and themes to use. The advice Harris gave him was simple: make sure no soundbite from his speech failed to include a reference to the ‘Trojan Family’.
Secondly, the Trojan Family gives very generously and enthusiastically to causes they support. In 2003, USC concluded the most successful fundraising campaign in the history of higher education. The “Building on Excellence” campaign started in 1993 with a goal of $1 billion for capital improvements and to increase USC's endowment. After nine years, USC had raised $2.85 billion, including a record four gifts of $100 million or more. The third thing I want to mention is that Trojans are committed to community service. Times/Princeton Review named USC the 2000 College of the Year based in large part on USC’s strong record of community service. Finally, the fourth thing you must know is that Trojans are very proud of their football team and tradition.
It is this fourth thing that sets the stage for why this project exists. A debate has raged for over two years about the 2003 college football season. LSU fans and USC fans disagree on whether LSU is the sole champion or whether USC and LSU are split champions. Capitalizing on USC’s loss in the 2006 Rose Bowl in early January, an LSU fan started a website to collect donations to raise money for the purpose of renting a billboard in Los Angeles to denigrate SC’s football accomplishments. They have raised $10,000+ largely from LSU, Texas, and ucla fans.
Naturally, as a Trojan, I am not happy about this attack on our family. I also know that many fellow fans generally hold the sentiment that efforts to raise so much money should be directed at more worthwhile causes. Our feelings are exacerbated by the fact that many of the people involved in the billboard campaign are from the Gulf Coast region so affected by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
Thus, this site has been established to raise money for an important and well-respected charity: Save the Children. The goal is to raise $10,000+ for Save the Children. If this site can create negative PR for the billboard project, that would be an added bonus.
If you have any more questions, please email me.
Return to top of pageAbout Save the Children
(excerpts from the Save the Children website)Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating real and lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. It is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, comprising 27 national Save the Children organizations working in more than 110 countries to ensure the well-being of children.
Nearly 70 years of experience working hand-in-hand, shoulder-to shoulder with families and communities at home and abroad has taught us that poverty need not be a life sentence. Save the Children's unique self-help approach to relief, recovery and ongoing development has nurtured the seeds of hope for millions of children and their families.
Through our Gulf Coast Hurricanes Recovery Fund for Children, we moved fast to get experts to Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, including staff with experience helping children in Sudan, Iraq and areas hit by the Asian tsunami.
We sought first, as we always do, to help meet children’s needs for safety, a semblance of normal life and structured play and learning, often in the familiar environment of schoolrooms. Then we began working to address their deeper needs. Our signature “psycho-social” programs help children come to terms with losses and experiences for which they may have no words, and to recover a sense of stability and self-esteem.
- In Mississippi, Save the Children helped set up a “safe space” for children to play and learn on a cruise ship that has been converted to a temporary shelter for some 500 families.
- In Harrison County, MS, we distributed backpacks and school supplies for about 700 middle-school children who would otherwise have had none.
- We provided materials for teaching, learning and recreation to help two vacant schools reopen in East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, serving 500 displaced children.
- In Jackson, MS, we conducted a three-day training session on meeting children’s psycho-social needs for a group of early childhood experts, primary and secondary school representatives and university staff, who will train others to help children recover.
- In Louisiana and Mississippi, we visited several temporary shelters – in auditoriums, schools and even a skating rink – housing more than 2,000 children. We provided educational and recreational materials, helping to create safe play spaces and counseling volunteers on meeting the children’s needs for reassurance, normalcy and security.
- We provided materials to an early-childhood development center in Pass Christian, MS; supported transportation arrangements between a Mississippi shelter and a child-care center; and arranged to support the school and shelter work of Big Buddy and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Baton Rouge in Louisiana and Mississippi and to train their staff in offering psycho-social help to children.
You can read more about Save the Children's Gulf Coast efforts here You can read more about all of Save the Children's programs here.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How does raising money for Save the Children do anything about that billboard?
A. There is nothing legal anyone can do to stop the billboard from going up in Los Angeles. But we can win the public relations battle. Aside from angering Trojans, that billboard is intended to raise a lot of media attention. This site can turn that attention against them.
Imagine: Instead of talking about the billboard near the SC campus, we can get people to talk about how one group raised money for a petty reason while another fanbase raised money to actually do some good in the world.
Q. How much of my donation goes to the actual charity?
A. All of it! Everything I collect will go directly to the Save the Children charity. I'm not keeping any of it. I'm paying for the site myself, so even revenue generated from the ads will be donated to Save the Children.
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