We did it!

Nyan and Lehka Pendyala

Nyan and Lehka Pendyala’s “Kids for Sight” project was selected as a Top 25 Semi-Finalist for the American Express “Members Project.” We beat out more than 1,200 nominated projects to get to this round of the competition! On behalf of the entire U.S. fundraising team, we would like to thank everyone who cast their nominating vote and helped get the word out.

But now we REALLY need your help to advance to the next level of the competition — the finalist round! From this point forward the contest is based purely on popularity. We will only get the money if we get the votes. It’s that simple. But we need everyone’s help to get us there. Remember — we just need your vote, just one vote, and not your donations.

What happens next

From September 9-29, individuals with a U.S.-issued American Express card can vote for one of the Top 25 projects. Only those with a U.S.-issued American Express card can vote. Projects with the highest card member votes on September 29 will advance to the Top 5 finalist round. If we make it to that round, there will be money. Anywhere from US$100,000 to US$1.5 million!

With your support, we can make it into the Top 5 and win the money needed to help create a pediatric eye care center in India. Maybe we’ll win enough to to reach our goal of establishing 50 such centers before our target date of 2012. But we need your help to vote and promote! Send this e-mail to your friends and family, put it on your Facebook and My Space page, and write about it on your blog.

How to cast your vote

Go to the "Kids for Sight" page and look for the box under Nyan and Lehka’s photo with the yellow star that says VOTE FOR THIS PROJECT.  Click on the star.   

If you nominated the project in the last round the system should remember you, and your vote will be cast immediately. Otherwise, you will have to log in using your AMEX user ID and password. If you don’t already have one, it takes just a minute to create one.

After voting, scroll to the bottom of the "Kids for Sight" page to add a widget or find more ways to support this project.

If you’re not an AMEX card member, you can still spread the word

At the bottom of the "Kids for Sight" page are links on how to add a widget to one of your social networking pages and more ways to get involved. You can also click on the link under the yellow star that says “Help promote this project.”

Here are some ideas on how to spread the word:

• Send an e-mail to friends, family, and colleagues alerting them to the “Kids for Sight” project.
  
  
• Forward this Web page to your friends and family.
  
  
• If you have a website or blog, or you belong to a social networking site, such as Facebook or MySpace, post a message urging your friends to vote for the “Kids for Sight”" campaign. Be sure to include a link to the “Kids for Sight” page.
  
  
• If you have a website or blog, or you belong to a social networking site, post a widget on your site directly from the “Kids for Sight” page urging people to vote.

Project timeline

September 9-September 29	American Express credit card holders need to vote for the “Kids for Sight” project and continue submitting comments to the project page.
September 30 – October 13	“Pick a Project” voting takes place among the top five.
October 14	Winners announced.

Nyan and Lehka would like to thank you in advance for your support. ORBIS will keep you posted on the outcome of the votes.