Adapted to raise money digitally
Students for Life of America groups across the country raised money and collected items throughout the year to help pregnant moms and pregnancy centers across the country.
Members of Students for Life recently spoke with The College Fix about its most recent donation numbers for the last full school year of July 2019 to August 2020. The amount raised totaled over $100,000 in money and goods. Students for Life told The Fix via email that its numbers for the calendar year are similar.
Sarah Zarr, the southern regional manager for the national pro-life group, told The Fix via email that SFLA has been flexible and creative throughout the pandemic and came up with new ways to raise money for pregnant women and pregnancy resource centers, which are nonprofit organizations that provide free resources to pregnant and parenting women.
“Students for Life groups have adapted and continued to support women facing unplanned pregnancies by going digital,” Zarr said.
“Three pro-life students alone raised over $700 for local pregnancy centers by organizing online donation drives” and numerous students donated to “Students for Life’s National Baby Item Drive in May, which raised over $15,000 in donated items for moms & babies.”
Marquette University students assembled 400 “baby boxes” with essential items to donate to families in need according to a blog post on Students for Life’s website. “Because of this effort, 400 mothers were given items they need, but more importantly, these mothers knew that their community supported them and was willing to walk alongside them throughout their journey of motherhood,” Staff Writer Brenna Lewis wrote.
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The financial and material donations made by pro-life students primarily benefit “pregnancy resource centers, which provide baby clothing, blankets, formula, diapers, toys, and more to parents in need,” Zarr said. “Funds donated to these centers also support services like free pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, adoption & parenting support/classes, and more.”
The regional manager explained:
In some cases, students raise money or materials for a specific pregnant peer via a campus baby shower. Students for Life students helped 22 young women choose life this year, many of whom were thrown a baby shower. One story that got a lot of attention happened in Toledo, Ohio. Students there witnessed a mother change her mind on the sidewalk outside of an abortion facility, then they threw her a shower.
Planned Parenthood’s research arm, the Guttmacher Institute, notes that for 73% of women seeking abortions, ‘ability to afford a child’ is their driving factor. Students for Life groups who fundraise for scholarships, buy textbooks for pregnant & parenting students, and throw baby showers offer real, tangible help to women for whom finances make or break their situation.
A student leader told The Fix how he helped organize support for pregnant and parenting moms.
Nic Rabideau (pictured above), the president of a Students for Life group at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, helped raise over $200 for pregnancy resource centers using Facebook. Rabideau is one of the three students commended by Zarr for using digital means to raise money.
He told The Fix via LinkedIn messaging that he got involved with SFLA because “there is a need for spreading a culture of life in the coastal bend area.”
“Being able to work with SFLA allows me to help give useful resources such as the Pregnancy Center of the Coastal Bend to mommas on the Island Campus of TAMUCC,” Rabideau said.
Rabideau said he would “highly recommend finding a pregnancy resource center,” in response to a question from The Fix about how someone could find a good nonprofit to give money to this year.
“The fund they need to combat the mega abortion facilities are high,” the student leader said. “We [Students for Life] offer free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds to those in crisis, so they understand that abortion is not the only option for them.”
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