If you didn’t know already, Humans of New York is one of the most popular blogs on the internet.

Brandon Stanton, started a trend of posting heartfelt stories to the widely popular Humans of New York blog which has now grown into a crowdfunding effort.

HONY raised over $400,000 in one day for inner-city schoolchildren.

Brandon Stanton partnered with the principal of a Brooklyn middle school to launch an Indiegogo fundraiser that will fund sixth graders to take annual field trips to Harvard University.

Why Harvard?

“I want every child who enters my school to know that they can go anywhere, and that they will belong,” the school’s principal, Nadia Lopez, said on the blog

It all started when this boy told Stanton that the biggest influence in his life was Nadia Lopez, who takes an unconventional approach to student discipline.

10441242_865948056812629_2861286349331890929_n

 

“When we get in trouble, she doesn’t suspend us,” the boy explained to Stanton. “She calls us to her office and explains to us how society was built down around us. And she tells us that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built. And one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of us that we matter.”

Stanton later wrote about his day spent with the school’s administration discussing ways  to help Brandons school in a meaningful way. The group decided that one of the biggest obstacles for the kids was the fact that many were not aware of the possibilities that existed beyond their community.

Source: http://mashable.com/2015/01/23/hony-fundraiser-brownsville-brooklyn/