STANDFast - December 1-5

PRESS RELEASE: Harwich High School Students Fast for Darfur and Burma

HARWICH – What are you willing to give up to save lives in Darfur and Burma?

Having recently returned from a national conference in Washington, DC, members of Harwich High School STAND are fasting for the week of December 1-5 to raise money for the Genocide Intervention Network. Members will forego their lunches, snacks, and/or other items for the week and donate the money they would have spent. They are also getting sponsors to pledge an amount for each day they fast. In addition they will be educating their fellow students all week about the conflicts and encouraging them to participate in a school-wide fast on Friday, December 5.

The money raised in this year’s STANDFast will pay for innovative civilian protection programs in Darfur, Sudan and Eastern Burma. The Genocide Intervention Network (of which STAND is a division) plans to fund programs that would protect women in Darfur as they gather firewood, and that would provide villages in Eastern Burma with satellite phones so they could be warned of impending attacks by government forces. STANDFast, with hundreds of groups participating across the nation, will provide the bulk of funds for these projects. More information on this plan is available at http://standnow.org/campaigns/standfast.

Harwich STAND is hosting an end of STANDFast celebration on Friday at the Harwich Community Center. The Last Supper is a $20 semi-formal dinner from 5:30-8 being hosted by STAND C0-President MacKenzie Hamilton. Food is being donated by Buca’s restaurant in Harwichport. Those interested in attending should contact Hamilton at macnham@comcast.net.

As a follow-up fundraiser, on Friday, December 19, Hariwch STAND will be hosting DarfurPalooza, a concert at the Harwich Community Center from 5:30-9:30 featuring some of the best young bands on the Lower Cape. Admission is $5. For more information contact Sheila House at shouse@town.harwich.ma.us.

The plans for this years STANDFast were developed on our recent road trip. Fifteen members of Harwich STAND (together with 10 members of Dennis-Yarmouth STAND), attended the STAND National Conference and the Tents of Hope National Rally in Washington, DC on November 5-9. For more details of our trip, check out our blog at http://hhsstand,blogspot,com.

Hamilton states, “As the holidays approach, and we start out Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, etc. celebrations, we need to take the time to think about those in need--those who cannot see a sunrise without wondering ‘When will I be next?’ Those who have lost their mothers, brothers, fathers, children.” STANDFast is one of the ways we’ll be truing to make a difference for others this holiday season.

For further information, contact Harwich STAND advisor John Dickson at jdickson@harwich.edu or 508-274-7367.