Money from The Voluntourist Helping to Create 9/11 Scholarship for Volunteers

Ken Budd is working with the friends and family of Franco Lalama to create a scholarship that will help volunteers with Cross-Cultural Solutions. Mr. Lalama (right) was a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey employee who lost his life on 9/11 after leading the evacuation of engineering offices on the 64th floor of One World Trade Center. Ken became friends with Mr. Lalama’s stepdaughter and her future husband through their volunteer experiences in San Carlos, Costa Rica, as recounted in Ken’s book, The Voluntourist. The scholarship will apply to San Carlos volunteers, and the goal is to reach the $10,000 mark. The current total is $3,500, thanks in part to money from The Voluntourist: Ken is donating his earnings to the places and organizations where he volunteered.

To contribute, please contact Cassandra Tomkin at 914-632-0022, Cassandra@crossculturalsolutions.org. You can read Mr. Lalama’s story here.

Please follow Ken Budd on Facebook and Twitter: @VoluntouristKen.