vote for a nd reader's mom in the pepsi refresh project! [people]
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 8:24AM
i'll do anything to support a ninedaves reader. i'll also do anything to support any efforts to raise theater awareness. so when uber-commenter and long-time supporter "the girl" wrote me asking to plug her mom's quest to get funding for a community theater in the pepsi refresh project, it was a no-brainer.
if you're unfamiliar with the pepsi refresh project, here's the quick of it: pepsi is giving a way a shit ton of money each month to fund raising ideas that change the world. the ideas with the most votes win the grants, so you're in total control. pepsi has been upping the anti recently, pledging an additional $1.3 million to ideas that help in the gulf. it's a pretty cool way to use social media to get people to make this world a better place.
the girl's mom journey to do just that starts in the town of plainfield, nj, where she hopes to start that community theater. i'll let the girl take it from here:
the mayor of plainfield nj recently placed the city in emergency status because of a rash of violent murders (17 in 2 weeks). there has been increasing gang violence and the dropout rate is skyrocketing. when my mom was a teacher at plainfield high school, she pulled in some of the most notorious bad guys and girls into her drama club and kept them in school and out of trouble. she hopes to continue doing more of the same with dreamhouse community theater company. the project will help her to focus some attention on younger kids, getting them involved in something positive before they ever have a chance to go astray (which is something she couldn't do at plainfield high, since her students were already teenagers). it will also allow her to pull more kids off the streets, whether they be high school students, recent grads, or dropouts. we ultimately believe that the more people who are offering alternative means of entertainment and education to kids, the less attractive it looks to join gangs. i promise that i am not just saying this because its my mom, although Iiwould make up some shit for my mom, but in this case i totally don't have to [editor's note: +5 bonus points for honesty]. i watched her teach for years and i know the impact she had on her students, some of them complete nerds and some of them teenage mothers and potheads. to this day people call me "little miss bunton" and ask how she's doing. they tell me how she's the teacher they'll never forget.
wow. that's some heavy shit! that's much better than anything i would have asked for ($600K so i can buy that apartment at one brooklyn bridge park). if her description above isn't a good enough reason to get you click over to the pepsi refresh website and vote for her once a day, i don't know what is. come on folks - let's make this happen! it's 2 minutes of your day! it won't take that long.
so vote, for christ's sake! click here! and if this shit goes through, which we all hope it will, maybe she'll invite us to opening night of their first production!
Reader Comments (2)
I voted! Although, can I just say that the girl's plea was FAR more convincing than the actual blurb for the theatre on the Pepsi website. It didn't explain the mom's passion for helping kids stay out of gangs and have something positive to work toward. This is what it said:
"We hope to expose the community to the arts, teach about the Harlem Renaissance era, examine the social and economic boundaries existant at that time and open the dialogue for diversity within our community and help those interested to hone their skills and seek professional entrance into dramatics."
Those are great goals, but they don't really speak to larger purpose of changing lives. Just a thought....
Anyways, I'm more than happy to vote for their awesome cause and thank you so much, NineDaves, for blogging about it!!!
Just want to say thanks ND, for the post! And thanks to everyone who votes!