Help FRC2586 CopperBots get to Worlds!

[Christopher149]

I am posting this on behalf of FRC team 2586.


We are asking the FRC community, especially their former MTU mentors who have scattered to the far reaches of the kingdom, to help our sister team the CopperBots in their quest to get to St Louis. This year for the first time in their 9 year history they are going to Worlds, not as a waitlist team, but by earning the right! This northern-most team in Michigan is a low resource team that recycles robot parts from year-to-year and the coach dumpster dives in a local manufacturer’s metals recycling bin for metal stock.

They do not have a major sponsor that pays their registration fees, but instead relies on many donations from individuals, our small local employers, their school and the MI Department of Education grant which has run out of money to fund advancing teams.

Please visit their Facebook page and Crowdwise funding site, donate what you can and then spread the links over the land. With only two more Championships in St Louis this may be the only time the team will get to go to this fair city and scale the mighty arch.

[Hot_Copper_Frog]

Chris,

I've been reaching out to some of my contacts and I'll send you an email shortly to discuss.

On another note, I am SO INCREDIBLY EXCITED that the CopperBots qualified for the world championships. When I started working with them, I was a first year college student fresh off of 4 years with the HOT team. Seeing how teams operate with little funding, few available mentors, and in a rural setting like that really changed the way I think about FIRST and forced me to grow as a mentor.

[Trying to Help]

Yeah for small teams in rural areas! We might not be as rural as you but we face many of the same challenges. It's great that you've raised so much already. Did you like using Crowdwise?

We're using GoFundMe and while the fees are fairly steep (5% to GoFundMe plus 2.9% and .30 per transaction to WePay their payment processor), I found that GoFundMe's customer service to be top notch.

Maybe you can stop by our pit during champs and we can swap ideas about managing to cultivate a team where the regional high school has about 80 kids per grade, the same businesses are always being asked for donations, etc. I've been learning a ton lately from other teams about fundraising (thank you Windham Windup and Infinite Loop!) and will happily share what we've done and what we hope to do.

It's our first year too and we've waited eight years for this point. {grin}

Brighid

[DonRotolo]

From a similar thread:

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Most teams here are also struggling with funding, so your plea, while valid, is not as likely to be fruitful.

However, not all is lost! There are may resources devoted to fundraising, including short-notice needs: Use the Search function. And, FIRST has a great Fundraising Toolkit you should review: http://www.firstinspires.org/resourc...aising-toolkit

Congratulations and good luck!