AU's chapter of Student Taking Action Now: Darfur, a national student-run anti-genocide group, along with several other AU organizations, will collect money on Thursday as part of the STANDFast fundraiser.
"STANDFast is a national fundraising effort to donate money to Civilian Protection Program," said Victoria Bosselman, president of AU's STAND chapter. Members of the chapter will work alongside members of the Peace and Empowerment Project, Project Nur, Women's Initiative, Student Campaign for Burma and Amnesty International to make the event possible at AU.
Students are encouraged to give up a "luxury item," such as coffee, for a day, according to Bosselman. They are then asked to donate the money they would have spent on that item to STAND. All proceeds collected during the national STANDFast will go to funding projects in both Burma and Sudan's Darfur region.
"The national STAND leadership team chose to donate to the Civilian Protection Program," Bosselman said. "STAND's parent organization, the Genocide Intervention Network, formed the Civilian Protection Program to provide resources for people in Darfur and Burma."
The money STAND collects will go to two projects - a radio program in Burma, which will help villagers in the event of an attack and to cover the costs of donkeys that will assist woman in Darfur when they collect firewood, she said.
AU's STAND chapter founded in 2004 but has only held STANDFast once. The group has not held many events over the years but hopes to make STANDFast an annual event, Bosselman said.
"STAND has existed since 2004 but has been somewhat inactive on and off for the past few years," she said. "We are trying to start holding [STANDFast] annually on campus with this week's effort."
Members of STAND began tabling in Mary Graydon Center at the beginning of the week to publicize the event. The actual STANDFast event itself will not take place until Thursday, Dec. 4. Members of the AU community can donate to STAND through cash and Eaglebucks.
AU's STAND chapter hosts weekly meetings every Tuesday. The group will be organizing more events for the spring semester, according to Bosselman.
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