WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Syracuse area's delegates for Bernie Sanders say they can't afford the costs to attend the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia next week, so they're asking the public for help.

The five delegates have set up the Upstate For Bernie Delegate Fund on a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $4,000 to pay for their lodging and transportation to Philadelphia.

As of Wednesday morning, the Syracuse delegates had raised $2,419 with five days before the start of the convention.

Lauren Livingston, an at-large Sanders delegate from Syracuse, said she is among three people who plan to share a $500-per-night room at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel.

Livingston said the delegates are required by convention organizers to stay at the luxury hotel in Center City Philadelphia because it has been designated as the New York delegation hotel. The hotel, like others in Philadelphia, requires a minimum four-night stay for the convention.

The Sanders delegates also plan to rent a car to drive as group from Syracuse to Philadelphia, Livingston said.

"We're nickel and diming it, but it's OK," she said, adding that the group is like many Sanders delegates - people of modest incomes who are new to the political process and presidential nominating conventions.

The other local Sanders delegates from the Syracuse area's 24th Congressional District are Brian Escobar, Andrew Miller, Walt Dixie and Christie Wood.

All delegates have to pay their own transportation, lodging and expenses to the Democratic National Convention, which have been estimated at $3,000 to $8,000 per person for the four-day event.

Other Sanders delegates across the country are making similar fundraising appeals to pay for their convention trips.

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