Because of the tragic earthquake in Haiti, Donate Pennies members feel moved to send urgent aid to the Haitians.

The Donate Pennies Club will be fasting for Haiti on Thursday, January 28^th. The fast (no eating, just drinking water) will begin at bedtime on Wednesday night and end with breakfast (breaking the fast) on Friday at 6:30am. Money saved on food will be donated for Haiti relief efforts. All North Muskegon Public Schools staff, community members, and 8^th-12^th grade students are invited to participate. Students under 18 should sign a pledge including a parent’s signature for permission in order to participate in the fast. Pledge/parent permission sheets will become available on Monday. Those unable to fast or students in grades lower than 8^th are welcome to participate in other ways to raise money for Haiti.

Ways to participate include:

• fast and donate the money not spent on food
• gather pledge sponsors for each hour that you don’t eat
• calculate the money spent on food for one day and donate it
• be a sentinel of a fasting student
• attend the boys basketball game to support the effort of fasting students in the stands
• attend the fundraising breakfast Friday morning from 6:30am – 7:00am in the North Muskegon cafeteria

In addition to raising money for Haiti, Donate Pennies Club members are fasting to better understand the feeling of hunger that refugees and displaced persons endure. All donations to Donate Pennies during the week of January 25 – 29 will be forwarded to aid Haiti.

Express Your Rights: The Role of Art in Human Rights Activism

Feb 5-6, 2010

The conference will take place at the Michigan Union on February 5th and 6th. Sudanese ex-child-soldier-turned-hip-hop-artist-and-activist Emmanuel Jal will perform the first night at the Michigan League and a concert featuring many great local artists will occur Saturday night.

Click here for the Conference Link

Visit Save Darfur’s Web Blog for the latest information about events in the region. The link is also available under the “Related News” link box.

From the Blog:

January 17th, 2010 by C.R.In late December, Lt. Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba, the force commander of the United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID), warned against over-optimism in assessing security in the troubled region. While acknowledging a near absence of clashes between the government and armed groups, he cautioned that “there is absolutely no guarantee that the situation will not get worse.” According to Nyamvumba, “the factors that caused the conflict…still exist.”

The first few weeks of 2010 have largely justified his concerns. Amid reports of civilian deaths and mass displacement, recent events illustrate the complex reality of a place far from peace.

Continue reading

Collected through January 14, 2010

From the Michigan Darfur Coalition email update:

December 8, 2009

Hello Friends,

There is a lot going on this month all around the state.

Let’s start in Lansing where St. Vincent Catholic Charities is awaiting the arrival of refugees from Darfur, sometime after the New Year. Are you interested in volunteering to help resettle a refugee? When refugees come from places like Sudan, they often need help with how to pay bills, how to find employment, how to use public transportation, registering for school, etc. There is going to be a training session for new volunteers at St. Vincent in January. Tashmica Clemons is MDC’s Lansing coordinator in charge of this volunteer effort. Send Tashmica a message at glassb0x@yahoo.com if you are interested in learning more about this important opportunity.

Detroit area supporters of the Michigan Darfur Coalition are invited to participate in a fund-raising event this Monday, December 14, 2009. Have your lunch, dinner, or Monday Night Football outing at Buffalo Wild Wings in Southgate (13655 Eureka Dr). 20% of your purchase will be donated to the MDC if you give the waitstaff the MDC coupon which can be found on the MDC website events page. Just download and print the coupon and take it with you!

Finally, we wanted to let you know what two of our partners have accomplished this past month. First, in Muskegon, the North Muskegon Middle School community has formed a non-profit organization called Donate Pennies. This month the organization was able to send the MDC a generous gift equal to tens of thousands of pennies they’ve collected. And, in Grand Rapids, the Temple Emanuel community held an educational Darfur event in coordination with the MDC where 100 people came. The Temple community raised awareness and funds which were donated to the MDC. Both of these significant donations along with the individual small donations that are made truly add up to make a difference to Sudanese people here in Michigan and in Sudan.

If your group is interested in partnering with the MDC please contact us. We’d love to hear from you.

McCroskey Law Firm sponsored our tree in Walker Park for North Muskegon’s 5th Annual Circle of Trees.

Student club members decorated the tree.

LA Times Article about “Kick a Ginger Day”

One student group's response.

Ms. Knuth’s 8th grade language arts classes read Education Week’s report about the attacks on redheads in a middle school in California. They were asked to respond individually in writing before joining a group to compare responses and note important ideas. Groups created posters and presented them to the class. See more on the Activities page.

Middle school student club members challenge:

Create individual containers to collect pennies through the winter term.

One student's container creation. It's a cool "can"tainer!

For five years, young Emmanuel Jal fought as a child soldier in the Sudan. Rescued by an aid worker, he’s become an international hip-hop star and an activist for kids in war zones. In words and lyrics, he tells the story of his amazing life.