Hobbies for Haiti: a new ARC program converts interests into relief efforts
By Gregory J. Scott
March 10th, 2010
If you’ve got a restaurant, you do a fundraising dinner. If you’re in a band, you play a benefit show. If you’re David Blaine, you stage a three-day magic marathon in Times Square.
In the two months since a massive earthquake hit Haiti, every hobby, interest, talent, personal endeavor and professional duty has become an opportunity to help the victims. In fact, there have been so many spontaneous, DIY relief campaigns that the American Refugee Committee, an international humanitarian aid agency based in Loring Park, has launched a new program aimed at coordinating these many small-scale efforts into a structured, strategic force.
ARC has invited citizens to apply to the Community Advocates – Haiti Relief program, a team of four committees, each designed around personal interests and each aimed at mobilizing a different area of the Twin Cities community. This way, a passion that you already have and live can be channeled into the relief effort. The commitment is temporary — only five hours per week, for three months. And advocates work in a community that they’re already a part of.
“The idea is to utilize the interests and talents of individual people in a committee structure,” said ARC public affairs coordinator Jenna Moeger. “So many people responded to the Haiti earthquake saying, I’d like to get involved, I’d really like to make a difference, but I just don’t know how. This way there’s a structure. But it’s designed by you.”
The four committees are the Arts Committee, the Business Committee, the Grassroots Committee and the Education Committee. Advocates work in their personal milieus to design and initiate their own fundraisers and speaking engagements.
ARC is seeking 10 to 15 advocates for each committee. Those interested in applying should contact Jessica Phinney at 612.607.6480.
ARC is also seeking Lead Advocates to chair each committee. Applications for those positions are available on their website, and the deadline to apply for all positions is Wed., Mar. 17.
After the three-month period, Moeger said, the program will involve into a larger, on-going advocate program aimed at addressing issues in three-month bursts, from violence against women to right-to-work issues.
