When Tom Ryan '12 begins playing his guitar at Jack Magee's Pub and Grill tomorrow night, Haiti Action Week, a week of fundraising for Haiti disaster relief, will officially begin.
Haiti Action Week, which starts tomorrow and will end on the February 27, will include 15 fundraising events. The series of events is the product of collaboration between student groups and the Joseph McKeen Center for the Common Good. All the money raised during Haiti Action Week will be given to Partners in Health.
In response to the January 12 earthquake that devastated Haiti's capital, numerous College and Brunswick organizations began fundraising to send money to Haiti. The first week students were back on campus V-Day conducted a bake sale that raised just over $1,000 dollars. Soon after, a fundraiser by the students of Longfellow Elementary raised $650 for Haiti, which they gave to Bowdoin's collective fundraising effort. To date, an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 dollars has been raised at Bowdoin.
But some were worried that the activities of the various organizations were too disorganized.
Together, Kyle Dempsey '11, Alain Mathieu '12 and Assistant Director for Service and Leadership at the McKeen Center Sarah Seames, organized a Coordination Committee, which brought together multiple student leaders to organize further fundraising activity. The idea for the Haiti Action Week came out of their first meeting.
"That was the big take away," said Dempsey.
"This committee is responsible for the Haiti Action Week that will start on Saturday. We have organized, or helped to organize, every event occurring during this week," said Mathieu.
But funds will also be raised at other events such as the Masque and Gown Production of John Cocteau's "Orphée", an outdoor living skill program by the Bowdoin Outing Club (BOC) and the African American Society's Ebony Ball.
"We don't want to get credit for all the events that are taking place," said Dempsey.
The Coordination Committee has met several times a week since students got back to campus, giving project leaders a chance to compare notes and collectively work out issues. Many members have side projects, which give them resources to help the collective.
"[Alain] started a group called the Bowdoin Haitian Alliance," said Dempsey. "He's been using his organization to find people to volunteer."
The first event of Haiti Action week will be the Bowdoin Music Collective's (BMC) Hearts for Haiti charity concert tomorrow. Admission to the concert is free.
"It's going to be real moody. Really beautiful in there," said co-BMC president Nyle Usmani '12.
Donation baskets will be passed around the crowd during the nine performances, which will include improvisational pianist Hassan Muhammad '10, the band "Call of the Truth," and a guest poetry slammer from Colby College.
Event organizers Nate Joseph '13, Nyle Usmani '12 and Mikel McCavana '12 have also devised another, more creative form of fundraising.
They intend to allow concertgoers to include dedications with their donations. At the start of each act, the performer will announce the dedication of whichever concertgoer gave the most money during the previous performance.
Overall, the BCM hopes to raise at least $500 on Saturday.
"It's a good combination of good entertainment and a good cause," said McCavana.
According to Seames, Grant Easterbrook '11, a member of the football team, was instrumental in organizing a number of athletically geared fundraising events that will take place over the course of next week, including the Community Skate, the Charity Bench Press as well as another fundraising event at the final men's hockey game of the season.
At the Community Skate, which will be held on Sunday, Bowdoin and Brunswick community members will be able to skate at the Sidney Watson Arena for five dollars each.
Fifty-five people have already signed up for the Charity Bench Press, raising approximately $600.
"When there's fundraising like this, there's always going to be an a cappella concert and there will always be speakers, and there should be, but I tried to think of a couple of events that would diversify the schedule and increase the amount of money we get," said Easterbrook. "One third of the students here are athletes. That's a lot of people."
The a cappella groups Miscellania, Ursus Verses and the Meddies will be holding a concert on Monday February 22nd in Kresge Auditorium. Tickets will be sold for $3.
Puentes, a cross-cultural awareness club, is sponsoring a lecture on development by Karen Blanchard from the School for International Training on Wednesday and Professor of History Allen Wells will be giving a talk on Haiti on February 25.
Various businesses in the Brunswick community will be giving a portion of their earnings on different days to Bowdoin fundraising efforts.