Reminders of Haiti, outside the Academic Commons
February 5, 2010
by Susie Pender
Soon after the devastating earthquake hit Haiti, a group of Greeley students began to organize to send help. “We met on Friday, January 15 and met again on Martin Luther King Day at 1:00 p.m.,” explained Austin Blumenfeld, a member of the group, “Greeley Helps Haiti.”
At that first meeting, according to Isabelle Harris, one of the main organizers of tonight’s concert along with Hailey Rosenthal, “about 50 people showed up, including teachers, students and administrators, to brainstorm about how we could help.”
“On Martin Luther King Day we started off with making posters, which are hanging on the curved wall by the Academic Commons,” reported Blumenthal. “We also planned all of our events for Haiti on that day, which include [tonight’s benefit] concert, bottle recycling, Quarters for Haiti and donated bottle caps.”
The Hope for Haiti benefit concert will kick off in the auditorium at 7:30 p.m. tonight, February 5. Tickets are $10.00 at the door, and that buys you a kaleidoscope of student performances including dancing, singing, comedy and various band acts. A few teachers and administrators are rumored to be waiting in the wings to perform as well. Refreshments will be sold, water, soda and homemade cupcakes decorated with the Haitian flag, the proceeds from which will also be donated to relief organizations.
The money raised will be divided between three relief groups, AFYA Foundation, a local organization that is collecting and sending medical supplies to Haiti; Partners in Health, an international organization that provides community-based healthcare to combat disease and poverty; and Oxfam International, which is delivering emergency supplies to Haiti including water, buckets, water treatment kits, shelter and sanitation facilities.
Greeley Helps Haiti includes among it hard-working members, Quinn Areces, Austin Blumenfeld, Sara Bonadies, Alexis Breidbart, Jillian Friedmann, Isabelle Harris, Jack Holloman, Adam Krebs, Jake Lichtenfeld, Lea Ono, Rebecca Passman and Hailey Rosenthal.
From 7:30 until the fun stops!
The organizers have rounded up fifteen acts for your enjoyment. In order of expected appearance, they include:
1. Improvisational comedy brought to you by Luke Conley, Alex Coetzee, Zach Ehrlich, Matt Krakaur, Mike Levine and Ezra Toback.
2. Greeley’s all-female a cappella group, The Quaker Notes
3. Jason Unger, singing
4. “Hot in the pocket,” a band
5. Katie Petruccelli, singing
6. Phoebe Fisher and Philip Sieverding, singing and guitar
7. Max Lagnese, singing
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