On August 3rd, the Harwich High School STAND chapter held its second fundraiser in three months for Darfur Dream Team’s Sister Schools Program. The event featured a dinner, silent auction, and a benefit concert by folk musicians Johnny Irion and Sarah Lee Guthrie, daughter of folk musician Arlo Guthrie and granddaughter of the legendary Woody Guthrie. Enough Advisor Omer Ismail was a special guest at the event, which raised over $4,000.00 for the Sister Schools Program.
Harwich High School’s STAND Chapter Advisor John Dickson met musician Sarah Lee Guthrie at the STAND National Conference in November of 2008. The two continued to correspond, and soon after they met Sarah Lee Guthrie agreed to participate in a concert to benefit Harwich High School’s sister school in Djabal refugee camp in eastern Chad.
The Enough Project’s Senior Advisor Omer Ismail attended the event and gave a stirring speech to the crowd, encouraging them to continue their commitment to helping those who suffer as a result of the ongoing crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. Omer reported back that the Concert for Darfur was “fascinating – to see that after six years, after we struggle to figure out what to do with Darfur, that people still remember and that communities still think something can be done.”
Through the Concert for Darfur and a talent show earlier this summer, Harwich High School’s STAND chapter has now raised $5,000.00 for the Sister Schools Program. Even after these back-to-back events, John Dickson and the STAND chapter at Harwich High School are looking to the future and planning events to raise money for their sister school in Djabal camp. “This is something in which we can make a big impact by helping,” said Dickson in an interview with the Cape Cod Chronicle. “We’re really on the ground floor of this particular project. We are hoping to raise funds to help build and open one new school this fall, but hopefully enough funds will be generated, and enough interest, to build a lot of new schools at the camps in Chad.”
The Concert for Darfur organized by the STAND chapter at Harwich High School was an incredible success that reached many in their community. To take action or to become a Sister School like Harwich High School, visit the Darfur Dream Team’s website.
Is your school already a Sister School? To learn more about organizing a fundraiser click here.
To learn more about STAND, or to find a chapter near you, click here.