‘Humans of New York’ founder raises $1 million for students’ Harvard trip

the photographer Brandon Stanton, 

Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind the Humans of New York blog makes a living by stopping people on the street, asking them a question and taking a portrait. His millions of Facebook and Twitter followers usually devour his art, but he did not anticipate that we would change the life of an entire school with only one question. Thanks to him, Mott Hall Bridges Academy, a middle school in Brownsville, Brooklyn has over US$1 million to invest in its scholars’ education.

In mid-January, Stanton stopped 13-year-old Vidal Chastanetand asked who influenced him. The child’s answer changed his entire school’s fate and ultimately helped him become the first recipient of The Vidal Scholarship Fund. The boy told the photographer that his principal Nadia Lopez influenced him, an answer he never heard before. Vidal told him that his principal does not suspend children when they get into trouble; instead, she tells them that “each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail gets built.” The boy added that one time she “made every student stand up, one at a time” and told each of them that they matter. Stanton told CNN that he “could not have been more impressed” by Principal Lopez, who is “a force of nature.”

The photographer set up a crowd funding project on IndieGoGo to cover lodging and transportation costs for three classes from Mott Hall Bridges Academy to make the trip to the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus. One hour later, the online campaign had reached its goal of raising US$100,000. According to a later post, every US$40,000 raised beyond US$350,000 would go towards providing one more summer of activities to keep the scholars engaged in their studies.

More than 34,000 people have donated money to help Mott Hall scholars build their own future and the amount of money raised has exceeded US$1 million. The photographer explained that 25,000 donations were enough to pay for ten years of Harvard trips and ten years of summer programs.

In an update on the crowd funding website, Stanton announced that all funds raised over US$700,000 will be reserved for a final purpose, namely to start a scholarship fund for the school’s graduates. The first recipient will be the boy who made it all possible, Vidal.

Source : http://www.australiannationalreview.com/humans-york-founder-raises-1-million-students-harvard-trip/