St Euphemia College is a school in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, Australia – Bankstown to be specific.

John, a student at the college, decided to take matters into his own hands to raise the $10,000 required to build a library for a school community in Sambhal, India through the Upschool Build to Library, Change the World course.

John’s letter was sent to many businesses requesting sponsorship support. There were lots of people that said no, but that didn’t deter John. He was determined to keep trying until he got a YES!

And guess what, through persistence and determination his letter eventually landed in the right hands and a local business said “YES”! And it wasn’t a small donation – it was $5,000!

That is half of the fundraising goal – achieved by writing one letter and sending it to lots of different businesses.

A big shout out to Matthew Panayotopoulos – the Director of Learning at St Euphemia College – who has been driving this program in the school.

To date, they have raised over $20,000 in just 5 months. Amazing effort!

Can you believe that John’s letter has given children from a community in need on the other side of the world a library so they can read books and get a better education?

Listen to his story below. It’s truly remarkable.

Upschool is proud of you John! Keep changing the world – one letter and one positive action at a time!