HOW CAN I SPONSOR A STUDENT AS PART OF REAP? WHAT MODELS ARE AVAILABLE?

The list of applicants for the REAP scholarship will be published in the ICON website(here). Individuals/Churches who would like to sponsor the education of a student can request ICON for more details about the applicant.

The following models are planned for the donors in the long run. As this project is in its budding phase, please refer to the 'Currently available models' for the list of models that are currently being offered.

MODEL 1

The individuals/churches will select a student directly from the list. The individuals/churches will pay the amount of the scholarship for the selected student to the ICON Charities registered in USA or India in USD/INR. The individuals/churches will select the name of the scholarship.

Example Work Flow:

1. St.Marys Church, Anchorage decides to sponsor the education for two students.
2. ICON forwards the list of all applicants for the year to St.Marys Church.
3. The members/committee of St.Marys church selects the two students from the list and informs ICON Charities.
4. St.Marys Church sends a cheque for ?x? dollars (cost of sponsoring two students) to ICON Charities account registered in USA. The church decides the name of the scholarship. For ex. St.Marys Centennial Scholarship. The name can be unique for each scholarship.
5. ICON Charities will issue a cheque to each recipient and will send the cheque to the student through GRACE and the Vicar of the church.

MODEL 2

The individuals/churches will pay the amount of the scholarship for the selected student to the ICON Charities account registered in USA or India in USD/INR. The individuals/churches will select the name of the scholarship. The individuals/churches will request ICON to select a student from the list.

The ICON moderators will choose a deserving student based on the financial, academic excellence, other circumstantial situations, and geographical and other criteria's. The details of the selection will be provided to the donor.

Example Work Flow:

1. St.Marys Church, Anchorage decides to sponsor the education for two students.
2. St.Marys Church sends a cheque for ?x? dollars (cost of sponsoring two students) to ICON Charities account registered in USA. The church decides the name of the scholarship. For ex. St.Marys Centennial Scholarship. The name can be unique for each scholarship.
3. ICON Charities will select two deserving students.
4. ICON will issue a cheque to each recipient and will send the cheque to the student through GRACE and the Vicar of the church

MODEL 3

The individuals/churches will pay the amount of the scholarship for the selected student to the ICON Charities account registered in USA or India in USD/INR. The individuals/churches will request ICON to select the name of the scholarship and the student from the list.

MODEL 4

Individuals/Churches can opt for a yearly recurring scholarship under a specific name with payments made yearly.

MODEL 5

Individuals/Churches can opt for a yearly recurring scholarship under a specific name with the interest received from a fixed deposit.

MODEL 5

Individuals/Churches can opt for a yearly recurring scholarship under a specific name with the interest received from a fixed deposit.

MODEL 6

• Individuals/Churches can send x amount to ICON and request to be pooled with other donations
• ICON will select the name of the scholarship and the student from the list.

MODEL 7

The individuals/churches will select a student directly from the list. The individuals/churches will pay the amount of the scholarship for the selected student directly to GRACE charities. The individuals/churches will select the name of the scholarship.

MODEL 8

• The individuals/churches will select a student directly from the list provided by ICON. The individuals/churches will pay the amount of the scholarship directly to the student. The individuals/churches will select the name of the scholarship.
• The negative about this model is that ICON does not have any visibility and hence no tracking can be provided.
• The negative about this model is that GRACE charity will not have insight for tracking the voluntary repayment scheme.
• ICON would appreciate if the individuals/churches would inform ICON about the selected candidates so that duplicate assistance can be avoided and thereby ensure other students who have not received assistance can be provided assistance.

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE MODELS

The REAP project is in its early days and as we build the processes and procedure, we plan to introduce the available models in phases.

For the first year, assuming Model 1, Model 6 and Model 8 would be the most used, we will be offering these models. In the following years we will introduce more models.

AS A DONOR, HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST FOR ME TO SPONSOR A STUDENT?

There is no fixed amount for the scholarship as of now. The donor can choose the amount.

Considering the number of applicants and their needs, we may not be able to provide the full assistance required for their education. For now, as a starting point, we consider providing the minimum amount for a student as part of the scholarship according to the following table.

It is up to the donor to decide the amount they would like to offer as part of their scholarship.

This does not prevent a donor from making a donation that is less than the minimum amount. Such donations will be pooled and offered as a scholarship.

WHOM DO I SEND THE DONATION TO?

You can make donations directly to the GRACE charity, Idukki diocese. We will add your name to our list when Idukki diocese confirms the receipt of your donation.

You can send your USD donations to ICON Charities, Inc. at the following address. Please make your checks payable to "ICON Charities, Inc."

ICON Charities, Inc
PO Box 552
Bettendorf, IA-52772-0010

You can also send your INR donations to
Indian Christian Orthodox Network (ICON) SB Account #9645, Federal Bank, Vadasserikara Branch, Pathanamthitta Dist., Kerala, India.

HOW DOES THE DONOR KNOW IF THE STUDENT HE/SHE SELECTED HAS RECEIVED THE ASSISTANCE? HOW TO ENSURE OPENNESS IN PUBLISHING THE SELECTION RESULTS?

• The list of selected recipients will be posted on the ICON website.
• The copy of the DD issued to the recipient will be provided to the donor along with a letter from the recipient acknowledging the receipt.
• The name of the recipient will be announced in the church of the recipient.
• The name of the recipient will be published in the Idukki diocese magazine.
• The details of the recipient will be provided to the donor to allow the donor to contact the recipient directly.
• The bank account transaction statement will be made available yearly.
• The grand total of the REAP project amount dispersed by GRACE will be included in the Idukki diocese accounts.
• Updates will be published in ICON every quarter

AS A DONOR, CAN I GIVE MY SCHOLARSHIP A PARTICULAR NAME? FOR E.G., I WANT THIS SCHOLARSHIP UNDER THE NAME OF MY GREAT GRANDFATHER

Yes, you can create a scholarship in the memory of your loved ones.

Within the REAP project, each scholarship will be named based on the donors preference.

MY CHURCH HAS A CHARITABLE DONATION PROGRAM, BUT THE PROCESS THAT MUST BE FOLLOWED IS DIFFERENT. CAN THIS BE ACCOMODATED?

Yes, once you select (pre-select) few students for applying for your charitable donation program, we can advice the students to follow the process that you specify.

In addition, ICON can be a proxy for the request of the student and once selected, your church can directly pay the student. This may prevent the effective tracking of the repayment mechanism and you may choose not to follow the repayment mechanism.

I HAVE A VERY SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT THAT I AM WILLING TO SPONSOR. FOR E.G., I WANT TO SPONSOR A CHILD FROM A FINANCIALLY BACKWARD FAMILY APPLYING FOR B.TECH COMPUTER SCIENCE CAN ICON LET ME KNOW WHEN SUCH A CANDIDATE IS AVAILABLE?

Sure. At ICON charities, we have a resource center where you can register your need. We work with the Metropolitan, GRACE and Vicars to identify the needy. Once such a candidate is available, we can let you know.

HOW WILL THE ACCOUNTS BE HANDLED?

A separate category is created in the ICON bank account in USA and India to account the transactions.

GRACE will also maintain a separate category to account the transactions.

Donations by the donor (people or churches) can be made to a specific account according to the model selected.

The student that the donor selects is issued a DD from the ICON account. The payment will be made through the hands of the Vicar to the student.

The repayment amount made by past beneficiaries is also remitted to the GRACE account. As soon as sufficient amount to sponsor a child is received in this account, a scholarship will be provided.

Donations can be made in USD to the ICON account registered in USA. The donations in INR can be made to the ICON account registered in India.

HOW DO WE ENSURE THAT THE PAST RECIPIENTS PAY BACK THE AMOUNT?

The repayment scheme is purely voluntary and will be managed by the GRACE charity.

GRACE will work with the Vicars to motivate recipients to pay back to the account.

Churches which make repayments can be given additional priority for all future applications.

HOW IS TRANSPARENCY MAINTAINED BETWEEN ICON AND IDUKKI DIOCESE IN MANAGING THE FUNDS/PROJECT?

ICON's support for this project is subject to the following steps to maintain the transparency of accounting and operation.

• Idukki diocese, GRACE and the Vicars of each church shall ensure the authenticity of the details specified in the applications
• Idukki diocese, GRACE will provide account details of the educational fund on request.
• GRACE will send updates to ICON for all transactions related to the REAP project every time payments are made through GRACE.
• Idukki diocese, GRACE updates ICON about the repayment status of the recipients.
• Idukki diocese, GRACE provides copies of mark lists of recipients (to gauge progress) if requested by the donors.
• Idukki diocese, GRACE shall publish the details of the students who have been selected for the scholarship in its magazine (to prevent fraud such as claiming scholarship for undeserving students)
• Preferably, a kalpana can be send to churches to inform the list of students who have received the scholarship.
• Idukki diocese shall provide copies of this magazine to ICON.
• Idukki diocese, GRACE shall answer any queries by the donors about any transaction