ISSUED: 27 April 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — A Kiva campaign sponsored by Shepherd University’s Department of Sociology and Geography and Office of Multicultural Student Affairs raised $394 in mostly change and small bills during a one-day campaign April 20. Shepherd Kiva will use the money to provide micro loans to borrowers who are either financially excluded from getting loans or are creating social impact in their communities.
The money Shepherd raised will be loaned within the following four networks—Together Association for Development and Environment, an Egyptian nongovernmental organization and an umbrella foundation for 25 community development associations in Minia, Baniswef, Fayoum and Kena; VisionFund Cambodia, a Christian organization and microfinance institution that provides small loans and other financial services to improve the lives of children, empower poor women and their families, and grow successful businesses; the Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Inc., which aims to help marginalized women from rural and urban communities in the Philippines achieve self-reliance and rise above poverty by providing them with the training and the credit to start or maintain their own small business ventures; and Friendship Bridge, which currently provides microcredit and education to women throughout 10 departments in Guatemala.
Through Kiva, crowdfund loans go to borrowers in more than 80 countries, including the United States. The Kiva website says borrowers work in many industries and may be farmers, artisans, students, shopkeepers, builders, or restaurant owners.
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