Mr. Bob Wood is a teacher at Oakridge High School. Mr. Wood’s students are fasting on Thursday, February 25th. Oakridge and Ravenna will compete in basketball on the 25th and Mr. Wood has invited North Muskegon students to join in the fast and attend the game. We’ll be there.
For more information, please link to Mr. Wood’s blog here
Good Deeds
by Loretta Robinson | The Muskegon Chronicle
North Muskegon Public Schools students collected $1,871.68 this winter for Haiti through the American Red Cross following the devastating earthquake in that country.
Fundraising events during Jan. 25 to Feb. 5 included a school hat day, organized by elementary students, and a hat day for middle and high school students organized by the Donate Pennies Organization. Participants paid $1 to wear hats in school. Donate Pennies also conducted a “Fasting For Haiti” on in which participants were encouraged to fast with fundraising options, said Sara Knuth, an English teacher at the North Muskegon schools and founder in 2007 of the Donate Pennies Organization.
Those fundraising options included participants giving money that would have been spent on food toward the cause and finding folks to sponsor the hours they fasted.
The fast offered Donate Pennies club members a chance to “better understand the feeling of hunger that refugees and displaced persons endure,” Knuth wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle.
“I’m so proud of them,” Knuth said. “I made the suggestion on a Monday (Jan. 25) about fasting for Haiti. It was soon after the earthquakes, the kids got very excited about it and ran with it, and we had almost 30 kids fasting (on Jan. 28), many other people donating and a breakfast on that Friday (Jan. 29) morning.”
Proceeds from the fundraisers will go to Haiti through the American Red Cross.
Donate Pennies is a student organization at North Muskegon middle and high schools that works throughout the school year to encourage youth to care about themselves and others and to empower students by showing them how a single person’s action can help to make a difference. For more information about the group, contact Knuth at (231) 719-4129 or e-mail her at knuthsa@nmps.k12.mi.us.
mlive.com link (scroll down to Good Deeds, the 2nd part of the article)
During the weeks of January 25 – February 5, 2010, North Muskegon Public Schools participated in various events to raise money for Haiti. One of the events, a fast, was organized by the Donate Pennies Club of North Muskegon High School. Read about the experience of one student by clicking on the link below.
Fasting for Haiti by Erin Alderink
Erin is a junior and the club’s student consultant for the organization.
The high school’s fast for Haiti was inspired by Jan Lundberg’s Culture Change blog. Read Lundberg’s post about North Muskegon’s fast at the following link:
Excerpts from the CNN report:
Judges at the International Criminal Court ruled Wednesday that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir may be charged with genocide for his role in a five-year campaign of violence in western Sudan’s Darfur region.
… “Genocide is a much more complicated legal position to meet (than war crimes and crimes against humanity), because you have to show in proving genocide that there was a specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a group based on — in this case — ethnicity or race,” Ellis told CNN in July. “Obviously, the prosecutor believes he would be able to prove this intent and so he wants the opportunity to prove that in trial.”The warrant for al-Bashir was the first ever issued by the ICC for a sitting head of state. It currently includes five counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture and rape. It also includes two charges of war crimes for intentionally directing attacks against civilians and for pillaging.
… Al-Bashir is the front-runner in an election scheduled to take place in April, and a genocide charge is unlikely to harm his prospects.
WHEN and WHERE: Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010.
10:00 am: Meet at the Washington, DC Mall
11:00 a.m. to 12:00pm: Rally from West Capitol Hill
12:00pm: March to the White House
WHY: Urge the Obama Administration to:
On Thursday, January 28th, some students and staff of North Muskegon Public Schools will be fasting to raise money for Haiti. Pledge forms for participation in the event are linked below.
Our goal is to fast for 31 hours. We will donate the money saved on food to Haiti. Money can also be raised with pledges from sponsors or, simply, by collecting donations.
Thank you for your support in this event.
Ukranian Sand Artist Proves that Reality TV’s Got Talent, TV & Radio Blog @ guardian.co.uk
Here, she recounts Germany conquering Ukraine in the second world war.
She brings calm, then conflict.
“If we take it that art’s purpose is to illuminate the world in a new way, provoke a reaction, somehow alter the consciousness of the viewer then her work is a huge success.” – James Donaghy
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 28th. 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 8th-12th 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 8th are welcome to participate in other ways to raise money for Haiti.
Ways to participate include:
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.
