It has been a month since the sad news of Jeff’s passing. His death ended four years of writing about his experience with lung cancer, but the courage, strength and hope arising from his words persevere. We can continue to be inspired by his optimism and give back to help support his most important project.

A primary concern for Jeff throughout his journey was how to secure future education for his daughter, Aubrey, if he wasn’t around to help. On October 25th, his family took a step to address this by starting a crowdfunding campaign for Aubrey. In the four weeks since, 129 people have contributed over $22,000 toward a goal that would give Jeff’s daughter the financial support to choose her college in 2023.

The target goal was set high enough to meet the projected costs of a four-year undergraduate education. While $150,000 is a daunting amount, that goal does not need to be reached today. We’ll get there by raising $30,000 each year before the first tuition bill comes due. That’s also $2,500 per month, a little more than the average rent in Los Angeles.

It is a goal that is ultimately met through ongoing contributions, such as 100 friends giving $25 monthly, or 500 giving just $5. Given the size of J’s circle and the time to reach this goal, success is possible.

In the initial month of the campaign, most donations were between $100 and $200. The other half of the contributions falls equally between smaller amounts less than $100 and larger donations greater than $200. If you have the resource and the inclination to contribute, imagine taking Jeff out for coffee or dinner and how many times you would want to do that over the course of a year. Consider donating that amount to support Jeff’s passion project for this year.

On this #GivingTuesday, please consider donating to Aubrey’s Education Fund to help reach this first-year goal of $30,000. Together, I know we can make his final project a success.