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Community bands together for Haiti benefit

By Annie Vangsnes

Monday, February 1, 2010

The line stretched out the door of Liberty Hall last night as approximately 400 community members filed in to raise money for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. And it all stemmed from a tweet.

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Help Haiti Show a success

Liberty Hall's big @HelpHaitiShow went viral on Twitter and raised more than $5,000 for Haiti relief.

Liberty Hall's big @HelpHaitiShow went viral on Twitter and raised more than $5,000 for Haiti relief.

Photo Gallery

#HelpforHaiti@Lawrence

Organized by Joshua Anderson and Nini Negash, the #HelpforHaiti@Lawrence event brought together many local businesses and volunteers to raise money for the benefit of victims of the January 12, 2010 Haitian earthquake.

Ways to donate to Haiti relief

Student journalism groups the KU Ad club, Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) will be taking donations for Haiti relief Wednesday-Friday.

Wed. & Thurs. 9:30 am-4:30 pm @ Stauffer-Flint & Dole Human Development Center

Fri. 9:30 am- 4:30 pm @ Kansas Union

“I just tweeted ‘Hey I’m thinking about doing something, maybe a benefit down at Liberty Hall, is anyone interested?’” said Josh Anderson, a senior from Perry. “I got a couple of really positive responses and then after that there was no stopping it.”

Within 24 hours Anderson’s friend, Nini Negash, a 1996 KU graduate, offered to help organize the event and a local business offered to donate food. Within two weeks, roughly 30 local businesses and community members helped sponsor the event and another 30 businesses donated items and gift certificates for a silent auction. Negash said the item she was most excited about was a basketball signed by Bill Self. Restaurants including Genovese, La Parilla, Zen Zero and Global Café donated food, while 23rd Street Brewery and Free State Brewery provided funding. Liberty Hall also hosted the event for free.

Lauren Pollmiller, a junior from Lenexa, attended the benefit after hearing about it from Liberty Hall’s Twitter.

“I think it’s really impressive they got so many local companies to donate,” Pollmiller said. “It’s cool to come out here and show our support and encourage things like this to keep happening around the community.”

Anderson said the community was extremely supportive from the beginning. He said he barely had to finish his sentence when asking the performers to help.

“All I did was ask a question,” Anderson said. “‘Hey, do people want to help?’ And the answer has been a resounding ‘yes.’”

Yuca Roots, The Dactyls, Rachel Anderson and DJ Candlepants all performed.

Anderson said he was proud of the community for its support and responsiveness.

“I don’t know how many communities could respond in less than two week’s time in the manner that the community here did,” Anderson said.

Ticket sales generated about $4,000 and Negash estimated the silent auction brought in another couple thousand dollars.

The Public Relations Student Society of America, Ad Club and Society of Professional Journalists will be collecting donations in Stauffer-Flint Hall on Feb. 3 and 4 and in the Kansas Union on Feb. 5. The money will be used to make health kits to send to Haiti.

— Annie Vangsnes

Anderson and Negash will donate all of the proceeds to Partners in Health, an organization that has been established in Haiti for more than 20 years. They chose the organization because it had low administrative costs and 95 percent of donations would go directly to the aid of victims.

Anderson said he wanted to maintain a presence on the Internet for continuing support of the victims.

“With Haiti, everybody knows about it,” Anderson said. “And the danger there is it becomes a flash in the pan and then we all forget about it.”

Anderson said one difficulty with continuing support for a cause like this is loss of interest. He said it’s still important to keep the cause on people’s minds.

“This is a situation where, very simply, people need help,” Anderson said.

You can follow Anderson’s efforts on Twitter at HelpHaitiShow.

Comments

Community bands together for Haiti benefit

"Community bans together for Haiti benefit"

Hmm. Ban is an odd verb for this headline. A very, very odd verb. I mean, you know, banning something generally entails the prohibition of an action.

My vote goes to rally, pool, gather, unite, collaborate, etc. But hey, what do I know?

Anyway, please support the Red Cross if you can. Text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10.

Community bands together for Haiti benefit

Word up nosurly. It should be "bands" together. I blame all of us, though, because think about it--do you really pronounce the "d" in bands? Not when you say it quickly you don't. Aah, the English language, such a slippery thing. But it should be spelled with the "d" whether we pronounce it or not.

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