Business address
November 25, 2013
Birmingham Covington School
1525 Covington Rd,
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301
Dear Business Owner,
I am a 5th Grader at Birmingham Covington School. My classmates and I are working on a global
business project and we would like to offer you the opportunity to join us on this exciting
journey.
We have partnered with Project Cope which is about people working with people to build
sustainable local economies that do not depend on charity, government or NGO’s. We want to
help entrepreneurial Zambians to sustainably develop their own lives. Project COPE is about
engaging villagers as partners in a business that will help to create a local economy, and make
their lives a whole lot better.
A recent epidemic of hoof and mouth disease destroyed most of the oxen in rural Zambia which
means that farmers now have to use manual labor to prepare, plant, and harvest their crops of
maize. This takes a really long time and makes the harvest much smaller. Our business idea is to
raise funds for a two wheel tractor for our partner village in Chilupula. A local farmer with a two
wheeled tractor can prepare his or her own land much quicker. They could then rent out their
services to other local farmers. The tractor owner not only improves his own harvest but the
harvest of those around them. The tractor can also be used to plant and harvest and a wagon
attachment would mean the tractor could pull harvests to the local market. It can also run
water pumps so a good entrepreneur can turn a two wheeled tractor into a growing business
which can help the whole village.
Once our friends in Chilipula have the tractor we want to measure how successful it is in
building a local economy. If any extra money is left we will use it to buy Chilupula water pumps,
so they can get their water much quicker and efficiently. Our whole school is involved in this
project and we plan to keep careful records of crops and follow up with the progress of the
village banking co-operative which is run by women over the next decade. We think this
business plan could eradicate poverty in a single generation. We would like to offer you a
chance to join us.
We are trying to come up with sustainable ways to raise money for Project COPE, and so far our
fund raising ideas include holding a recycle can drive, we collect and recycle juice pouches and
chip packets and get a penny for each one from Terracycle. We have collected used gift cards
from several local businesses and make and sell jewelry out of them instead of using new
plastic made from our very valuable resources that are found inside the earth. We are
collecting and recycling electronics for cash. We have collected gently used toys and sold them
at a mom to mom sale, we are writing a book about the whole project which we hope to be
able to publish and sell online, and finally we are coding and creating a Zambia based game in
which a farmer must survive a entire year in Zambia keeping his/her family alive and having a
good harvest. Please check out our Project Cope wiki here to find out more ideas that we have
and other ways to help boost the economy in Zambia:
http://projectcope.wikis.birmingham.k12.mi.us/
You can join us on this business venture in the following ways:
You can become a sponsor by making a one off donation of $50. If you become a sponsor, we
will advertise your company in our flyers, brochures, wiki pages, Facebook page, twitter school
accounts and posters.
You could participate in our Electronic Recycle Program. We are simply asking you to protect
the environment by donating your used electronics .Your used item(s) may be tax deductible
and will be recycled in accordance with EPA regulations. 100% of the proceeds will help fund or
tractor project
We are currently collecting the following items:
Cell Phones
Digital Cameras
Laptop Computers
iPads & Tablets
Inkjet Cartridges
Apple iPods
You could help us out by simply advertising our project by posting this flyer somewhere
prominent, or if you would like a poster please let us know and we can get one to you.
You could encourage your employers to donate by going straight to our facebook page where
direct donations can be made. You could collect empty pop cans and we would be happy to
come and collect and recycle them for you. You could also collect your used gift cards for us to
collect and make jewelry from.
Being business owners we know that you appreciate a good business plan. We would be thrilled
even if you could help us out by offering some good advice.
Thank you so much for your consideration. If you have any questions please contact my teacher
Pauline Roberts at @pr05bps@birmingham.k12.mi.us
Sincerely,
Megan Clifford