Merit, Cause by Design

Style

May 8

Project 26 by Merit Goodness seeks to open doors to education.

I haven't shared my story much, at least not in respect to my education.

In high school I graduated top five in my class of 99 with higher than a 4.0 gpa. After high school I bounced around Art Universities, from Grand Rapids to Atlanta.

But I never graduated. And for this I am not sorry. I do not apologize and I do not regret it.

That is not to say that education has not been vitally important throughout my life. It is not to say that Universities are not important institutions. For my joy in not completing my University education it still remains that higher education schools are still relevant and important for the youth of America.

Which brings us to Merit and Project 26.

Merit has partnered with Ugmonk to shed light on the fact that every 26 seconds in America a kid drops out of High School.

Not to pursue a passion. Not to begin a career. Not to advance an education.

Every 26 seconds a child is taking a step toward fewer opportunities, lower wages and greater risk for poverty.

Which leads us yet again to Project 26.

In an effort to stem the tide of education loss, Merit and Ugmonk are raising money to help send at risk youth to University.

Through the sale of the Project 26 shirts under-served youth are being given the chance to attend University through college scholarships.

Here's your chance to help. Visit project26.meritgoodness.com and purchase a shirt. 20% of all proceeds go directly to college scholarship funds.

For this shoot I went to the campus of Mary Hardin-Baylor. I wanted to be close to the education system.

I wanted the awareness not to be tied to my surrounding but to stay relevant to the cause. Every 26 seconds a kid drops out of high school

If we can help these kids have hope for higher education, if we can help fund their college scholarships then we can help these kids have the motivation to graduate high school.

Check out Project 26 to find out more.