I first heard about Bitcoin from one of my students, back when it was trading at $7. At the time, thought it was interesting and filed it away in the back of my head.

I look after digital projects for Pathways to Education, an organization dedicated to helping students who live in economically disadvantaged areas to graduate from high school. We are currently in 13 cities across Canada and provide students with tutoring, mentoring, and financial supports to help students succeed. I used to be a youth worker and I've seen firsthand the difference that it makes.

Six months ago, I wrote up a proposal detailing how Bitcoins could be accepted and how we could issue tax receipts. Management was intrigued by the idea and asked for more information, taking the time to learn more about how it worked and asking good questions to make sure we had all our bases covered.

A call to the Canada Revenue Agency (the Canadian version of the IRS) was more straightforward than I anticipated. I explained what it was that we wanted to do and they indicated that as long as a fair market value could be established, we could issue tax receipts for the Bitcoin donations.

We experimented with a few different exchanges and eventually decided on CAVirtex, in part because they are Canadian, but also because they have been extremely helpful. Still a work in progress, but it makes it extremely easy to convert BTC to CAD.

Today, the page went live and we are the first national charity in Canada to adopt Bitcoin.

If any of you would be interested in donating, this would go a long way towards helping the students who we serve and also to help validate the work that we have been doing to implement Bitcoin as a way to receive donations. Thank you in advance!

Donation page: http://www.pathwaystoeducation.ca/bitcoin

Our wallet address (if you prefer to donate anonymously): [redacted].