Big News! New Sponsor, Raffle Prize and Updates For Our Guatemala Fundraiser.

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We’ve had a tremendous couple of weeks getting the word out about the incredible work Cooperative Education is doing for Guatemalan school children, while showcasing a lot of smiling faces that could warm even the Grinch’s cold, small heart.

Beth and I had planned to end our fundraising effort at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 31, 2012 but just like traveling things don’t always go as planned AND sometimes that’s not a bad thing! In fact, in this case it was actually amazingly good and now we’ve got 4 fantastic updates to tell you regarding our Guatemala fundraiser!

First: Gogobot Gives!

Gogobot has joined our cause and did it in a big way! They are donating $5 to our fundraiser for each person who posts a review on their site and tweets it out with #GogobotGives.

That’s right! The simplest way you can make a difference in this lives of these terribly sweet & cute kids is to log into your GoGobot account, write a review (can be anything: hotel, restaurant, etc.) and then tweet it out with the hashtag:  #GogobotGives

Gogobot will give us $5 for each review you write and tweet! Just remember to include the hashtag: #GogobotGives because it’s the only way we’ll be able to track the donations. Also, you don’t have to be traveling to write a review – maybe you have a favorite restaurant in your hometown that you would like to tell people about. Really it doesn’t get much easier than this!

Haven’t used Gogobot before? Be sure to check out the Gogobot website, which makes planning your travel a lot easier and a ton more fun! We’ve been fans of Gogobot ever since we had the chance to interview the CEO, Travis Katz, who btw, is a pretty hearty traveler himself and even met his wife while riding a camel through Rajasthan!

Remember donating to our Cooperative For Education fundraiser through Gogobot is as easy as 1, 2, 3 and it doesn’t cost you a dime!

1. Log onto Gogobot.com (or you can sign up easily with your FB account)
2. Write a review of anything!
3. Tweet the link of your review with the hashtag #Gogobotgives

Second: $1310 Raised So Far!

Then we got some really generous 11th hour donations that gave us a huge boost to $1,310. It’s been amazing watching the little green & blue donation bar move closer to its goal during this fundraiser, and I can’t believe how close we are now to getting those two new PC workstations installed at the school. WOW!

Seriously, you guys are amazing! We can’t thank all of you enough for your support, donations and shares!

Third: Tom Bihn Becomes Official Sponsor of our Guatemala Fundraiser!

I know you guys are really going to dig this. We’ve picked up another major sponsor to help get us achieve our goal. After hearing about the fundraiser, our good friends at Tom Bihn offered to take the travel prize pack to the next level. In addition to supplying the Safety Whistle and Packing Cube Backpack, they have also thrown in one of their best selling and most versatile travel bags – the Aeronaut!!!! I took this bag with me through Europe this year and loved it. And now that we are back, it is our go-to bag for road trips. Simply put: it’s awesome and our review of the Tom Bihn Aeronaut and Tri-Star will show you why.

The Gift Pack (worth $420) Now Includes:

• 1 Tom Bihn Aeronaut
• 1 Tom Bihn Packing Cube Backpack
• 1 $25 Amex Gift Card
• 1 $25 Amazon Gift Card
• 1 $25 Itunes Gift Card
• 1 Adventurer’s Travel Journal Pack By Earmark
• 1 Free Download of Getting Out Of Auto
• 1 Safety Whistle from Tom Bihn

Fourth: Save $300 on your own trip to Guatemala! 

Go ahead and meet some of these cute kids for yourself!

Have you been itching to volunteer in Guatemala since we started talking about our trip? Good news! I just got word from Cooperative for Education and because of the fundraiser we are running they have decided to make volunteering with them even easier! They are now offering $300 off their upcoming February 19-24 tour! The normal price is $975 per person. This is exactly the same  tour that Beth and I went on in July. Even without the substantial discount, CoEd’s Snap Shot Tour is a phenomenal deal, because the price includes all of your lodging, transportation, tours and meals! Are you thinking about going with friends or bringing your family over February break? Good news – If you go on a tour and bring 3 of your friends then you get to take the tour for free! You can read more about this promotion here: Bring 3, Go Free

That means if a family of 4 wants to visit Guatemala this February with Cooperative For Education and signs up during the $300 off promotion the total cost will only be $2025! That’s an amazing deal and let me tell you this trip is a life changer. You will come back a different person with a different view on life. There were some multi-generational families with us on this trip which is why we recommend it for people of all ages. If that wasn’t enough – the forecast for Guatemala City this week is 70s and sunny. Doesn’t that sound nice?

HURRY UP! The $300 promotional discount is only valid until Jan. 15, 2013. So if you want to sign up and take advantage of the promotion make sure you do it this week!

If you are interested in getting away this winter on a truly remarkable trip, then check out www.cooperativeforeducation.com/tours for more information or email us and we can get you in touch with them!

If you want to read a first hand account of this tour please check out some of our recent Guatemala stories. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be putting up even more stories and photos from this trip!

O.K., I know that’s a lot of information to take in on a Monday. Here’s a recap:

1. Got Gogobot? I hope so, because they will donate $5 for each person who posts a review on their site and tweets it out with #Gogobotgives. Not on Gogobot yet? That’s alright, you can sign up here.
2. Our Readers Are Awesome. You guys helped us clear the $1,000 mark in style and we just wanted to say thank you for all your support.
3. Raffle Prize Pack is HUGE. Tom Bihn (aka America’s greatest luggage creator) joins our cause and takes our travel prize pack to the next level.
4. CoEd Puts Out A Whopping $300 Fundraiser Discount! If there ever was a time to volunteer in Guatemala with Cooperative For Education this is it!

In lieu of all the awesome developments, we decided to extend the fundraiser to 11:59 p.m. Jan. 31, 2013!

That gives us plenty of time to not only reach our goal but hopefully surpass it! Please consider making a donation today.

Please also consider sharing this post with your friends and family. We have made a Pinterest-sized banner (below) should you choose to share on Pinterest! We really appreciate your help in spreading the word about this great cause.

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New to our blog? Read on to find out how you can donate to a great cause and enter in our Guatemala raffle giveaway!

Just in case this is the first time you are hearing about our fundraising campaign, I’ve included the details below about how you can get involved, including info about the prize pack we are giving away to one lucky person!

How it works:

It’s very easy. Make a $15 donation and get an entry into the raffle for the prize pack! Do you want more than 1 entry into the raffle? All you need to do is make a larger donation. Easy as pie! 100% of your donation goes directly to the two student computer workstations we are funding at Panajxit. The donations are also a tax write off for U.S. citizens!

• $15 Donation = 1 entry
• $25 Donation = 2 entries
• $50 Donation = 4 Entries
• $100 Donation = 10 entries
• $250 Donation = 18 entries
• $500 Donation = 36 entries
• $1,000 Donation = 75 entries
• $2,000 Donation = If you donate $2,000 we’ll give you a prize pack of your very own!

How Do You Enter?

It’s easy! Just click the big blue DONATE NOW button which will bring you to Razoo.com. This is where we have decided to host our fundraising efforts. Why did we pick Razoo? If we can get enough donations quickly then we will be showcased on their homepage, which will let even more people know about CoEd and our mission to fund two computer labs at the school!

Is There A deadline?

Yes there is! Please make your donation by 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2013.

How Will We Choose The Winner?

We will write your name on a slip of paper for each entry into the raffle. As soon as we raise the $2,000, Randy will complete an exuberant one man Polar Plunge into the great and incredibly cold Atlantic Ocean! After he runs back to the beach and draw a name out of a hat (we’ll bring it with us to the beach). We’ll be filming the Polar Plunge and name draw on video and then post it on our site to announce the winner! Good Luck!

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*Please remember all photos on this website, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and property of Beers and Beans Travel Website & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you do want to use one of them please contact me first. Thanks!