One year ago, Tammy and Tim Mathieu saw a post on Facebook about realtors donating their commission to Zozu Project, and it got them thinking. While they’re not realtors, they are stock traders, and here’s what they did in response.
For 15 years, BTIG, an institutional brokerage firm, headquartered out of NY has hosted a yearly “Charity Day.” It’s a really big deal in the trading world. Hundreds of the largest institutions, pension funds, and corporations together direct their earned commissions to charities of their choice for that day. They also host big name celebrities in the trading room like Alex Rodriguez and Shaquille O’Neal. It’s a big event, and more high-profile than anything we had been involved in as an organization before! Last year, this day raised over $4 million dollars to for charities chosen by clients and celebrity guest traders.
So what does this have to do with us? The Mathieus were already sponsors of Gilbert, one of the students of Solid Rock. But after seeing that post about a realtor donating their commission, they thought that they could do much more by reaching out to their workplace. Tim is the Director of Trading of a large institution on Wall Street, and this gave the couple the idea to ask BTIG to approve Zozu Project as a charity for the big “Charity Day.” So they did. Zozu Project was accepted and got to be a part of the big day along with charities like The Boys and Girls Club of America and The UN Refugee Agency! Here we are, a small group of people helping the poorest children in a small African town, and through Tammy and Tim God brought us onto the floor of the stock exchange to raise funds. Sounds like an underdog story to us!
In Tim’s words– “It truly was an honor to get Zozu on the map with some of the largest philanthropic foundations and endeavors in the country and was a joy to know for a fact that the dollars raised for Zozu are going to such a worthy cause! Mick and Elaine and their children have founded an entity that we are all so proud to be a part of. We love our Ugandan child, Gilbert, who we sponsor (he just used his birthday money to buy his first bed), especially since we cannot have children of our own.” Tammy added “Our prayer for Zozu, is that this inspires someone else to look into their own lives and see if there is a way to give back, that might not just be the usual ‘write the check,’ ‘go to the chicken dinner banquet.’ Think outside the box – be creative!!”
Because Tim and Tammy got creative in how they contributed, the money that was raised is going to give the children in Arua the best education possible so they can one day give back themselves. To us, the most incredible thing about this is how God uses very ordinary people to make big things happen. Tim and Tammy just started where they were and thought “what could we do with what God has given us?” You don’t have to be a celebrity to be a mover and shaker in God’s kingdom, you don’t have to be a millionaire, you just have to be willing, and he will multiply. Many, many thanks from Arua!
In case you’re curious…
More info on the event → http://www.btigcharityday.com/
And a video here →
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