University of Georgia student Amanda Floyd has high hopes for her new charity as she launched a fundraising campaign Friday night at downtown Athens’
Cine. Floyd’s Little Pearl Foundation aims to provide financial and emotional support for girls with cancer – and for every girl, a string of pearls. The foundation’s slogan is “Every girl should be pretty in pearls,” Floyd said. “One of our main goals is to make these little girls feel beautiful.” No one keeps track of how many students at UGA or other schools start charities. A UGA web site lists 50 student service organizations, some local, some branches of big national organizations like Circle K. “I think that they do it quite often,” said Michelle Carney, director of UGA’s Institute for Nonprofit Organizations and a professor in the university’s School of Social Work. Students in the school’s nonprofit management degree program often tell her they’ve started charities, or know of other students who have, said Carney. Many fail, however.
“I get calls from people every day who say, ‘I want to start a nonprofit,’ but often they lack the skills,” like grant-writing or management, she said.