 |
|
Programs
|
The HIV/AIDS Epidemic - Take Action
TAKE ACTION! BECOME INVOLVED IN THE GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST
HIV/AIDS FUNDRAISING EVENTS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH YOUTHAIDS FUNDRAISING EVENT IDEAS With only $10, YouthAIDS is able to provide one youth with health products, services and education for one year. With a creative mind, help from your high school, and lots of enthusiasm, you can create a fun event that will help save young people around the world from a life with HIV/AIDS. ADOPT-A-PROGRAM – Your high school can choose to adopt a YouthAIDS program in another country (find out more about YouthAIDS and what the organization is doing in Rwanda). This would include YouthAIDS providing you with information about the country and the program so you can gain in-depth knowledge about a specific country in the world where YouthAIDS programs are at work. In turn, you would hold events to fundraise for your adopted program, thus creating a partnership that benefits both your school as well as a specific country program you’re interested in.
YouthAIDS programs motivate a wide range of healthy behavior and decision-making among youth, including the use of effective health products and services such as HIV counseling and testing. Programs supported by YouthAIDS target and educate at-risk youth groups through a variety of ways, including the use of music and television, peer education and community mobilization. Remember to check out www.youthaids.org/impact/how.html to learn more about our programs. Bake Sale – Everyone loves a tasty treat during lunch, after school, or during an athletic event. Get a group together to plan a bake sale to benefit YouthAIDS. These days making cookies, brownies, and cakes takes barely a half an hour of your time and little to no skill! Don’t be shy to ask your friends and parents to contribute with their baking skills too. Sell those baked goods!!! Car Wash – This event is a blast when you a get a big group together to spend the day washing away for a good cause. Organize the event for a weekend day at your high school parking lot. It’s even better if you can do it on a day your school is having a big athletic game or school-wide event…the more crowds the better. Make sure to PUBLICIZE the event and make ALL your friends and their friends join in…Who would want to miss out on this huge-water fight opportunity?! Sporting Events – Get into the competitive spirit and have some fun organizing a sporting event between students and teachers from your school versus another nearby high school. Ask for a $5-$10 minimum donation at the door during the game — parents, students, and teachers will be excited to support a worthy cause while having fun. Festivals – High school students love outdoor festivals. Think of a cool theme, invite a few local/high school bands, get food and drinks donated from a local business….and you have a festival! This is perfect if you have a central quad or another large space on your campus like an athletic field. And if not outdoors, do something inside for an evening event in your school auditorium or gym. Admission to the festival goes to support YouthAIDS. Dance Marathon – This can be an all night party as students dance the night away in support of YouthAIDS. Dance Marathons may take a long time, however it will be one of the most exciting projects. Students gather pledges and donations to stay up 12 or 24 hours dancing to different tunes. YouthAIDS Raffles – Organize a huge raffle on your campus. Get prizes from your local businesses or think of creative ones such as free tickets to school plays or school dances/formals. LAST BUT NOT LEAST – If you’re ready to take it on, combine a bunch of these events for a full-day YouthAIDS celebration. Get together a planning committee (you’ll need help!) and impress all your fellow students and teachers with an awesome YouthAIDS Fundraising Day. TIPS FOR ORGANIZING EVENTS 1. Register your event – All school fundraising events to benefit YouthAIDS MUST be registered with Kristen Sramek, the YouthAIDS Special Projects Assistant. This will establish a direct contact between the YouthAIDS office and your high school. Contact ksramek@psi.org 2. Be creative – You are a high school student. You understand the trends. Come up with an innovative event. Don’t do a dance-a-thon if another group is doing something similar. 3. Develop a strategy and timeline – Make sure that every single detail has been covered. Three most important things: event location, budget, and volunteers. 4. Partner with other groups – It is always good to partner with other school organizations if you can. This means more power behind the event! 5. Establish a group of coordinators for the event – If you are in charge of the event, you probably have a lot to organize. You need other students to assist you with planning the details. Reach out to friends and students who you think would be interested in getting involved. The more help you can find, the more likely you all can pull an event together that everyone will talk about for weeks to come. 6. Know your facts: Educate your fellow event organizers about the HIV/AIDS crisis so you can present facts to the rest of the student body when you hold your event. Check out www.unaids.org for the most up to date statistics and information about HIV/AIDS. During the event, have fliers to pass out that give facts and details about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Example - FACT - Over the course of a two hour YouthAIDS / "YOUR HIGH SCHOOL'S NAME HERE" event, 500 young people will become infected with HIV. 7. Publicity - Utilize all possible sources to advertise your event. Develop posters, post messages, cover billboards, contact your school newspaper, and send out e-mails…. Think of it this way: No matter how small or big your school might be, find a way to reach ALL of the students! 8. Contact us with your thoughts, questions, and concerns – We are here for you! Let us know about your event and whether you need help. Run your ideas by the office. Contact Kristen Sramek, the YouthAIDS Special Projects Assistant at ksramek@psi.org. 9. Post Evaluation – Send proceeds of your event to YouthAIDS. Include a write-up about the event along with photographs. Make sure to send out post-event thank you notes to everyone who helped out with the event. Our Address: (find out more about YouthAIDS and what the organization is doing in Rwanda)
|
