Darfur Fundraising Flyer

Dear SAIC Faculty and Students,

 

As part of a Chicago-wide effort to end the genocide in Darfur, the SAIC Student Activists are participating in the Youth United for Darfur Rally that will take place on April 19^th at 1:00pm at Federal Plaza in Downtown Chicago.  The event is being organized by our coalition of over 35 student groups, including high schools, colleges, and youth groups.  We are collaborating with major human rights organizations, such as the Save Darfur Coalition and the Enough Project in order to create an effective and successful event.  Our goals are three-fold:

 

1. Showing Darfuri children in refugee camps that residents of President Obama's home state stand with them and that they are not forgotten.

 

2. Showing the world the fact that Illinois' American and Sudanese youth are working together in their efforts to bring peace to Sudan.

 

3. Showing President Obama that Illinois vocally supports new efforts to end the conflict in Sudan.

 

In case you are unaware, the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, which began in 2003, has taken the lives of up to 400,000 people and has displaced over 2.5 million people.  Although international efforts have attempted to stop President Omar Al-Bashir and his Janjaweed militia from murdering, raping, and displacing so many innocent people, demands for peace and justice have been largely ignored.  And yet, there is still hope.  Through united actions such as the one that the Student Activists are part of, we can demand that politicians make it a priority to address this ongoing crisis. 

 

Prior to the rally, student groups, including the SAIC Student Activists Group, will be fundraising for the Sister School Program, which supports schools attended by Darfuri refugees in the Djebal refugee camp in Eastern Chad.  By supporting these schools, displaced youth will gain the education necessary to eventually return to their homeland and create a better future. 

 

The SAIC Student Activists aim to raise $1,000 to support these important efforts toward the overall goal of $15,000 by April 19^th.  We are doing our part in fundraising by asking classmates, teachers, family and friends for small donations that will truly make a tremendous difference (Your donation of $25, $15, or even $5, makes a huge difference!).  Please consider donating money to help Chicago’s students successfully support the less fortunate youth affected by the genocide in Darfur. 

 

To make an online donation, visit www.youthunitedfordarfur.org.  On the home page, click “Donate.”  You will be taken to a page on which all of the student groups involved are listed.  Please select the link for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  From there, click the “Donate” button (you can choose how you want to donate; $20.00 will provide a student with a desk and bench, $6.00 pays for a textbook, and $50.00 supports a teacher’s kit, $10.00 buys a basketball) and safely enter your credit card information to make a contribution.  If you would like to donate with cash or checks (checks made out to “Enough Project”), you can drop them off in my mailbox in the Columbus Building outside the Sculpture Department Office.

 

Thanks so much for your help in our efforts!  If you have any questions, please email studentactivists@saic.edu or call me at (860) 916- 8278. 

 

Sincerely,

Lisa Nonken

Student Leader, SAIC Student Activists