After two years of development, The Gift of Education, an online gift registry for education savings accounts, has relaunched! In celebration of the new and improved website, all transaction fees will be waived through the end of December.
The Gift of Education operates like any other online gift registry but, instead of registering toys and other gifts, a parent can register an existing education savings account on www.thegiftofeducation.com. Friends and family can visit the website and contribute securely and instantly to a child or student’s account. The Gift of Education takes the guesswork out of what to give for special occasions. No more wrapping paper, frantic trips to the store and no unwanted gifts. A few clicks of a button and a truly meaningful and enduring gift can be given.
The inspiration behind The Gift of Education came in 2010 when Aimee lost a friend and former college teammate to cancer. The process of making contributions to the education savings accounts of her friend’s children was very cumbersome – taking Aimee, family and friends days or weeks to complete. Aimee set out to create a website that would streamline the process of pushing money into education savings accounts.
Aimee dove in head first and started doing research on how she could make The Gift of Education a reality. When asked how she was able to overcome the trials and tribulations of a startup, Aimee states, “I was not afraid to ask questions and ask for help. I would explain what I was trying to do to just about anybody who would listen. I ran into different people who had unexpected answers and solutions which made The Gift of Education what it is today.
For more information about The Gift of Education, please visit the website at www.thegiftofeducation.com. Inquires can also be directed to Aimee Hasson at ahasson@thegiftofeducation.com
Aimee Hasson is a resident of Davis, California, and a graduate of UCD. Aimee founded The Gift of Education in 2010 and partnered with Davis Roots in May 2013. Since then, Aimee has been combining all the legal and technical pieces together that will transform the education savings market: https://www.
I have two thoughts and a wide range of emotion with regard to this article.
First I want to commend and thank Amy for this wonderful idea for a means of a community pulling together to ensure an education for those who are financially challenged.
My second thought is what a travesty that our society as currently economically structured does not provide for this education for all of our children. Advanced education enriches our society as a whole. As such, attending school is an activity that we should reward, not charge for. In the past, we acknowledged this with the concept of free quality education through high school and affordable education through public and land grant universities. What has happened in my lifetime in California is that we have chosen through cumulative taxpayer and legislative actions/inactions to effectively defund our public education system. What a shame that we have abandoned the concept of public education.
And what a benefit that there are those such as Amy and all who contribute through school volunteering, tutoring for free, mentoring and proctoring for filling in the gaps in what should be free and available to everyone willing to learn.