In my last post, I wrote about getting friends to make donations. I was raising funds for Asha for Education, a charity that works on bringing education to children in India, in parallel with my preparation for the Chicago Marathon.

I was given a target of $1200 to meet. After reaching out to friends for support, there came to a point where I thought all those who were interested to donate would have already donated. In other words, it was probably hard to get that many more people whom I know to contribute. At this point, I had only less than 50% of my target met and it was only over a month to go before the Marathon.

There was an easy way out. I could have made up for the balance with my own money. However, that sounded to me like taking part in a Marathon but hopping onto a bus half-way to be brought closer to the finish. I thought I could at least think of something else to do that might helped raise more money.

Reaching out to the Indian community made sense because Asha does work that benefits children in their homeland. I tried my luck at approaching the manager of a well-known South Indian restaurant in Atlanta to ask his permission for me to approach his customers for donation after they finish dining at his restaurant. I managed to secure this opportunity after a few phone calls and a visit.

Many Indians frequent this restaurant and the place is rather busy on weekends. I was confident that I could meet some people there, but I had no idea what sort of response to expect from them. We were, after all, strangers. If you ask me, I will tell you that I am the skeptical kind who hardly give money to strangers. If most people are like me, I might actually collect very little donation. Nonetheless, I told myself that I would give this approach a try and see what results I would get.

I printed a stack of brochures that introduced Asha and explained what I was doing. I wrapped up a tissue box which I would use as my money box. With some very good advice, I prepared a poster board that would help to draw people’s attention. I was ready for my first weekend at the restaurant.

I set up my modest little “booth” outside the restaurant. My approach was to leave people alone as they entered the restaurant unless they struck up a conversation with me. It was as they leave after their meals that I would tell them about what I was doing there and invite them to make a donation.

As I expected, there were people who declined. Also, to my pleasant surprise, when people did decide to give, they can be very generous. It was, overeall, a humbling experience. Think about it, people whom I have never met before, and whom I will most likely never meet again, entrusting me with their money after that short span of time during which I told them I was helping to raise funds for children in India to go to school. Moreover, some of these donations were not what I considered small amounts that I would hand to somebody I did not know, even if they claim do be representing a charity.

At the end, I spent three weekends at the restaurant. I am very appreciative of the people who left a donation in the box as well as those who stopped and listen to what I had to say. The response I got from the three weeks was beyond what I had imagined. By race weekend, I had exceeded my fund rasing target. So I avoided the situation similar to hopping on a bus halfway in a Marathon. I guess I was really lucky to have met many generous people.