VA Church Helped 34 Students With Their College Debt!
By @TobyChilliShow
A church in Alexandria, Virginia helped pay off debts for 34 college seniors in the area with funds they raised during a month-long fast. The 8,000 member congregation at Alfred Street Baptist Churchspent the month of January fasting - with their diets, as well as with social media and their finances - as directed by their pastor,Reverend Dr. Howard-John Wesley.
He cut his $4 a day coffee habit and asked parishioners to do similar things to help save money to be donated outside the church. They didn’t know what good cause they were going to help support, but they happily contributed and instead of the $25,000 the church expected, Wesley says members gave $150,000 by the end of the month. Church officials decided to donate $100,000 to Howard University and $50,000 to Bennett College, a historically-black women’s college and the funds went to students who had good GPAs and only had debt standing in their way to graduation.
Wayne A. I. Frederick, president of Howard University, says the church’s donation will have a ripple effect that goes beyond the 34 students who got the money. “It will have a massive impact,” he explains. “It will teach them about paying forward and teach them about the responsibility to the community around them.”