A Lafayette organization is hosting an online fundraiser to raise money for the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, after Gov. Bobby Jindal used his line-item veto ability to cut the Council’s funding. (Associated Press)
CODOFIL hosting online fundraiser to make up for cuts
Last Modified: Monday, July 30, 2012 9:08 PM
By Ashley Withers / American Press
A Lafayette organization is hosting an online fundraiser to raise money for the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, after Gov. Bobby Jindal used his line-item veto ability to cut the Council’s funding.
Jindal cut $100,000 from CODOFIL, a sum amounting to about 40 percent of the organization’s operational budget.
FrancoJeunes, an organization made up of French-speaking young professionals, is hoping to raise enough to cover the loss and raise awareness for CODOFIL and its mission.
FrancoJeunes’ main goal as an organization is to make French more visible in Louisiana and to promote and support French-speaking initiatives like CODOFIL.
Immediately after the cut was announced June 15, FrancoJeunes launched the “100,000 Cajuns, Creoles and friends of the French language in Louisiana” fundraiser.
“They are just asking people to give a dollar. Their whole thing is they are just trying to get 100,000 people together that see French in Louisiana as at least being worth a dollar to them,” said Erin Stickney, the communications director for CODOFIL.
“It’s really about showing power in numbers, in addition to helping to restore the budget.”
The fundraiser is hosted online at IndieGoGo.com There are 30 days left in the campaign and organizers have raised around $19,500.
While CODOFIL does not directly assist Southwest Louisiana schools, Stickney said raising the money is important for the area.
Calcasieu Parish has five French immersion schools: Gillis Elementary, Prien Lake Elementary, Henry Heights Elementary, S.J. Welsh Middle School and Barbe High.
The cut will significantly hinder CODOFIL’s ability to recruit and train French immersion teachers and foreign associate teachers who would be sent to those schools.
“A dollar is nothing. It’s what most people have in their back pocket,” Stickney said.
“We would love to see that many people that are that willing to give a dollar for French in Louisiana.”
Online: www.indiegogo.com/100KLA
Posted By: Band Wagon On: 7/29/2012
Title: Creative
Thinkn outside the box instead of waiting on handouts.
...wonder y lafayette And others cities leave l.c.in the dust!
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