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May 2011

Greetings and salutations,

My name is Tommie Collins, and I am writing today to tell you how I have been embraced and molded for the past five years by Project Exploration, an organization that brings critical science opportunities to minority youth and girls.

As a young student attending a Chicago Public School, I was neither receiving nor grasping the science I needed to nourish my knowledge-seeking mind. Project Exploration saw the potential in me, and helped me maximize the young man I could be intellectually, scientifically, and physically. Today, I have emerged from my cocoon, and am working towards my degree in architecture at Hampton University.
 
Coming from a low-income home often limits the experiences that students like me can have. With PE, that is no excuse. PE programs are always completely free for students, making it possible for us to expand our ideas about ourselves and the world we live in, and absorb everything our minds pursue. This is made possible through the generosity of supporters like yourself, whose contributions make a very real impact:

• $50 provides local transportation for 20 students like me to and from a PE program
• $75 supports one girl’s eye-opening experience at our outdoor leadership retreat
• $150 supplies 10 students with a college readiness packet, which proved to be a critical tool for me
• $500 facilitates three summer internships in a world class fossil preparation lab
• $2,500 underwrites a 2-week summer field expedition like the one that helped me learn all that I could be

In the Lessons Learned newsletter you received a few weeks ago, you read the impressive statistics about the high-school and college graduation rates of PE alumni. As impressive as those numbers are, the following numbers are the ones that truly mean so much to us students: 

• 83% of us said that we felt part of a “special community”
• 95% said we agreed or strongly agreed that “adults showed an interest in my academic success,” enabling us to discuss and explore new educational and career opportunities
• 91% of us agreed or strongly agreed that Project Exploration had increased our self-confidence
• 89% of us felt better about our futures because of our experiences

PE goes above and beyond the expectations of what a science program should, would, and could be. It is because of this organization that I am the young man I am today. Please consider making a gift of $50 or more to support this awesome organization. It is because of your investments that students like me have established the success we’ve made for ourselves. Who knows, you may have just invested in a potential goldmine.

With the best regards,

Tommie Collins
Architecture Undergraduate
Hampton University

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Project Exploration is a 501c(3) tax-exempt organization. Your gift directly supports our programs ensure communities traditionally overlooked by science—particularly minority youth and girls—have access to personalized experiences with science and scientists.

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