Bochurim Fundraise for Tuition

A year ago two young bochurim, Dovid Staples and Adam Finck, were faced with a dilemma; they wanted to go to yeshiva but they didn’t have the funds. They needed to find a way to raise the tuition quickly, but how? After brainstorming for ideas, the first gears for yeshivabound.com began to turn.

With no experience in web design, Dovid Staples became the architect. With the guidance of Adam’s mother, Charna Gross, Yeshivabound.com was birthed into digital existence and the two boys immediately focused on promoting it.

Now yeshivabound.com is celebrating its first birthday.

Says site creator, Dovid Staples, “Thank G-d, last year was successful. We raised enough to buy our plane tickets and we had a great year in yeshiva. This year though, we have bigger plans. A friend is redesigning the site and it’s time to expand and help more bochurim. This past year the website was key to sending a boy from Melbourne Australia to yeshiva in Israel,” a real milestone.

Rabbi Mendy Deitsch, Director of Chabad of Chandler in Arizona, is a fan. Knowing the Staples family since they joined his community in 2001, he says about Dovid, “I can confidently vouch for his honesty and morality.”

“Rest assured that the funds raised through this web site and drive will be used exclusively for tuition expenses and will help keep Dovid in a Yeshiva environment through the upcoming year and beyond,” Rabbi Deitsch wrote in a letter.

The innovative feature the website boasts is that donors get to see exactly what they are sponsoring. They donate ‘time’ instead of money.

“It’s a better way to give,” says Dovid. “The way it’s set up allows you to see just how much Torah learning you are donating. You’re not just giving, for example, four dollars, you’re sponsoring one hour’s worth of learning. That feels more substantial than a mere four dollars, but it’s still a significant and meaningful contribution. Afterward the donor will receive an email stating exactly when that hour (or day, week, or month) will take place!”

Looking ahead, the two boys have a plan.

“We don’t want to just help ourselves. We want yeshivabound.com to be a source of funding for many more bochurim like us who lack the funds to go where they want for yeshiva. Tuition isn’t the only expense with which bochurim are in constant need of financial help. Things like soap, laundry detergent, or shoes and shirts, can be sponsored to ease the burden of yeshiva life. Small items like these can be sponsored from the comfort of your home with the click of a button.

“Our website is still fledgling in its potential; we have so many ideas and a long way to go to realize our dreams of refining it into a well organized and well marketed resource to assist many bochurim financially. Even though our success has been relatively minimal compared to our actual need, it has not deterred us from broadening our reach to extend assistance to a fellow bochur who came and asked for help.

“This was someone who crossed our path and needed help desperately; maybe no more or less than we do, but to us, it seemed our responsibility to extend what we could to help.”

In the meantime, most pressing at the moment is one bochur very desperately needing a plane ticket to Melbourne. Any takers?

To donate, go to www.Yeshivabound.com