Raja Jasper, founder of Friends Charities, experienced financial difficulties during college due to income constraints. Wishing to not be a burden, he reached out to his family and church community for advice. Through church he received life advice and began to work full time in conjunction with a full credit load. As a result, he was able to graduate a semester early. Shortly thereafter, he accepted a position at PNC Bank.
Mentoring became something of a hobby for Raja during his early career years. He helped guide other friends to pursue graduate studies and offer them advice on how to get their own careers started. In August 2019 he began to think about how to expand this work and reach a wider audience. Thus began Friends Charities in the following October as a 501(c)3 organization. With some of his closest friends as co-founders, Raja began to reach out to current students in need of help pursuing college education.Friends Charities is written in the form of an acronym. Each letter stands for an adjective describing different core personality traits of each of the founding members. They summarize our organization’s tenets. Anyone can read the full acronym and understand how committed we are to sincerity and generosity.
Our first fundraiser was a success! Friends Charities hosted a Painting With a Twist fundraiser on Saturday, July 25, 2020 in Robinson. We had 23 attendees from across the area; friends and family alike. The venue and participants alike were extremely cooperative with COVID related requirements, and we are happy to say the event was safe and enjoyable!
The Friends gave a group speech prior to the event - it was a little rocky at the start, but we quickly pulled together and managed to inspire the audience. Everyone was able to help themselves to two beers generously donated by Aurochs Brewing in Emsworth. About two hours later, we had 23 happy artists taking home beautiful paintings! We thank everyone who showed up, and we look forward to seeing returning faces in our next fundraiser!
