Book Is Helping to Fund 9/11 Scholarship for Volunteers

Ken Budd, author of The Voluntourist, is working with the friends and family of Franco Lalama to create a scholarship that will help people to volunteer abroad 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 The Voluntourist.

Just as Mr. Lalama dedicated his life to building bridges, the scholarship will help volunteers to build bridges with people from other cultures. The goal is to reach the $10,000 mark. The current total is $5,000, thanks to money from The Voluntourist and Mr. Lalama’s family. Ken is donating his earnings from the book to the places and organizations where he volunteered. To contribute to the scholarship, please contact Cassandra Tomkin at 914-632-0022, Cassandra@crossculturalsolutions.org. You can read Mr. Lalama’s story here.

The Voluntourist won silver in the 2012 North American Travel Journalists Association awards and the 2013 Nautilus book awards, and was nominated for the 2013 Library of Virginia Literary Awards. You can follow Ken on Facebook and Twitter: @VoluntouristKen.