Members of MassPIRG's Save Darfur Campaign intensified fundraising efforts yesterday, canvassing the campus and collecting donations for "DarfurFast."
Coordinated annually by STAND (a Student Anti-Genocide Coalition), DarfurFast is a nationwide fundraising event based on the request that people abstain from making an everyday purchase for one day, instead donating the money to Darfur.
According to STANDS's website, DarfurFast has earned celebrity support, with "notable fasters" including Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, and Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, social justice advocates and co-founders of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream.
Students engaged in yesterday's fundraising effort stationed themselves all over campus, in buildings including Herter, Lederle, Bartlett, and the Dining Commons. All totaled, members volunteered 40 hours of their time, and raised $2,000, enough to pay for a full year of protection for 600 Darfuri women from sexual abuse and violence so common in refugee camps for one full year.
Part of the fundraiser's success can be attributed to diverse publicity efforts made by volunteers, which Aines said included a Facebook group, word of mouth, going door-to-door in dorms, talking to professors and their classes, and coverage in campus media. Aines also cited access to other networks associated with Darfur fundraising, including those of MASSPIRG and STAND, as instrumental in getting the word out to a wider base via e-mail.
Proceeds generated by yesterday's massive effort will be distributed by the Genocide Intervention Network (GI-Net), an NGO based out of Washington D.C. which works with NGOs in Darfur, to ensure that the money makes it to the refugees.
"This year was the first time our campus collected," said Stephanie Aines, STAND's Massachusetts Outreach Coordinator.
Fellow fundraiser and MASSPIRG State Executive Committee vice chair, Tiffany Yee, 21, said she hoped it will be the last, partially because she had to kick her self-diagnosed "Rockstar addict" had to kick caffeine for the day, but more so, she explained, "we're really hyping this up, because we want this genocide to end now."
Aines also spoke to the urgency of the campaign's mission, explaining that "part of what we were going for was almost shock value...we're right here, we're asking for money right now because the genocide's going on right now."
Although yesterday was the only day funds were collected on campus, "GI-Net is always collecting, and according to Aines, 100 percent of their profits go to Darfur Fast. The website created by STAND for the event, standnow.org/darfurfast, also will also be accepting donations electronically, through credit or debit card, for a few more days. An address is also listed on the site, for those who prefer to send contributions through the mail.
Yee stressed that even students unable to financially contribute could help Darfuris.
"Simply write a letter or make a phone call to your local rep or state senator," she said. "There's actually a website called darfurscores.org where you can find out what their voting records are."
In the wake of a hectic day of pitching, collecting, and counting, Aines remained optimistic.
"I think one of the really great things about this fundraiser in particular is that it's humanitarian," she said. "We can really make a difference. The political solution to this conflict, I've been working on this for two years, and I have no idea. I do know that this money is going to get to the Darfuris who do need it in the refugee camps."
Katrina Cessna can be reached at kcessna@student.umass.edu.
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