Updates...

Donation locations around Manhattan:

• Manhattan Mennonite Church:1000 Freemont (785) 539-4079
• First United Methodist Church: 12 Poyntz (785) 776-8821
• St. Thomas Moore Catholic Church: 2900 Kimball Ave (785) 776-5151
• First Congregational Church (UCC): 700 Poyntz (785) 537-7006
• College Ave. United Methodist Church: 1609 College Ave (785)539-4191
• First United Methodist Church: 612 Poyntz (785) 776-8821
• Trinity Presbyterian Church: 1110 College Avenue (785) 539-3921
• First Christian Church: 115 Courthouse Plaza (785) 776-8790
• Peace Lutheran Church: 2500 Kimball (785)539-7371
• First Baptist Church: 2121 Blue Hills Rd (785) 539-8691
• New Hope Community Church: (785) 537-2389
• Seventh Day Adventist Church: 600 Laramie (785) 564-1020
• Crossroads of ECM: 1021 Denison Ave (785) 539-4281

Other updates:

Our cause has been mentioned in a news release on K-State's homepage. Go here for the article. It summarizes our current and future plans well, mentioning plans of a benefit concert, discussion forums, documentary showings, etc. So check it out to get the scoop!

Also, Varney's has offered support by providing a location for donation bins and an outlet for spreading the word about our cause.

We are receiving additional support from Amnesty International and the African Student Union and K-State's Student Governing Association has provided funds for advertising and informational materials.

Moving right along... updates and more.

O.K. everyone. Here's the update for upcoming events and headway we've made:

• Wednesday, November 8th (tomorrow), in Student Union room 206 we will be having a volunteer orientation for all those interested in helping out at various collection events, etc. We hope to meet many like-minded students who are ready to take action!

• Monday, November 13th in the Student Union courtyard from 11 a.m - 2 p.m. we will be having one of our main events, complete with a panel discussion from 12 a.m. - 1 p.m. with a few students here at K-State from Sudan. They have been kind enough to offer to talk with us about the conflict and to take any questions we all might have. So, thank you to them! Don't miss this unique and invaluable opportunity to get an insider's perspective on the Darfur conflict!
• Also, we will have collection bins set up, so please bring donations!

• Sunday, December 3rd numerous churches around the Manhattan area will be hosting donation events where local residents will be able to drop off donations. We will keep you posted on this event...

We've made some good monetary progress as well:

• During a weekend event at Sunset Zoo, local residents donated a total of $165 to our cause.

• Wal-Mart has offered to donate $25 dollars

It is still early and we've made some great headway. Thanks to all those who have offered and are offering their support, the level of appreciation is beyond words.

Donation from Wal-Mart

This morning I woke up to a call from Wal-Mart. They've approved our donation request - they're giving us a $25 gift card. I'm supposed to go pick it up whenever I have time; I'll try to swing by there on Monday.

We're still talking to local businesses around the Manhattan area and in Aggieville to see if they will let us have a donation event on either Nov. 11th or the 18th. So keep a look out for us! Also, we will be having an event in the Union Courtyard on November 13th. Along with a table where you can donate and/or get more information about our cause here in Manhattan, there will be a few African students present to talk about the crisis and answer any questions. Hope to see you all there!!

Donations at Sunset Zoo

Sarah just informed me yesterday that while her leadership class was at Sunset Zoo organizing activities for children she took donations for our cause. Manhattan residents were generous enough to donate $165 in total. Not a bad start considering we haven't had a formalized donation drive yet! Thank you so very much to all those kind-hearted folks who we were fortunate enough to receive donations from!

Compassion from Wal-Mart... Target, not so much...

I just got off the phone with managers from Wal-Mart and Target here in Manhattan. We aren't home free yet. Unfortunately, Target doesn't allow "solicitation" under any circumstances; not even when it involves helping those dying of genocide. I couldn't even finish what I was saying without the manager interrupting me and adamantly proclaiming that they "just don't allow that"; sounded like he had more important things to do. When asked why Santa was allowed to stand outside and "solicit" for change in December, I was told they don't allow that either (which I swear I've seen that red clad man ringing a bell asking for my change when I happen to find my way to target around Christmas time). If an organization as esteemed and established as the Salvation Army can't even break Target's callous facade, I think we may be out of luck here folks; but we will keep trying!
(After further research I found this article as well as this one dealing with Target's decision to ban the Salvation Army from gathering donations outside their stores.)

As for Wal-Mart, the manager was very helpful and instructed me on what I needed to do to meet our goal. Sometime within the next couple days we need to fill out an application if we want to receive a donation from them and be able to spread the word and gather donations from locals at their store. It's not much, but it's a start.

Just to put things into perspective:

Target annual revenue (2006) - $52.6 Billion

Wal-Mart annual revenue (2006) - $315.6 Billion


Target also donates double what Wal-Mart donates to charity; 2% of their annual earnings compared to 1%. See it here.

Full SGA support for the commodity drive!

KSU's Student Governing Association has informed us they are willing to assist our cause in any way it can! What excellent news!

Hopefully their support will help in spreading information about our cause through assisting us with banners, posters, flyers, and collegian ads!

As of now, things are going great. We're off to a wonderful start! We will meet this Wednesday to discuss organizing commodity drive events as well as soliciting local businesses for donations. On the horizon is a nice PR event in the Union Courtyard alongside the Peace Corps and the study abroad office where we will have the opportunity to reach a good amount of people.

SaveDarfur.org has a post called "Background" that's worth checking out...

Darfur has been embroiled in a deadly conflict for over three years. At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5…