It was nine o'clock in the morning on a Saturday, and Alan was going to Starbucks, on 67th and Columbus Avenue, for his morning cup of Joe. While he was crossing Broadway and 67th street he noticed that in front of the Gap there was a small stand with a board saying "Save Two Million," and by its side was a teenager looking to be about fourteen or fifteen, with what looked to be leather wristbands. Alan, being the curious fellow he wondered, Save two million what? Dollars? Kittens? When Alan had the green light, he crossed still questioning himself about the subject of the board. At first, he thought that it was some sort of cheap way of making money, and walked passed the teenager.
He walked down the block to the packed Starbucks. While waiting in line he noticed that the woman in front of him was wearing what looked to be like what the teenager around the corner was selling. Alan tapped the woman in front of him and asked,
"Excuse me, may I ask you where you got that leather bracelet from?"
"Sure, I bought it from the teenager in front of the Gap, it's for an amazing cause and it really helps people. You should talk to him about it."
"Thanks, I'll do that," Alan said.
Once he got his tall sized cup of iced caramel macchiato he walked back around the corner and saw that the teenager was still there. Alan walked up to him and said "Someone told me a little bit about what your selling and recommended that I should talk to you." The teen smiled and introduced himself as Chris with a firm handshake.
"Well Chris, first things first, what does the 'Save Two Million,' mean?"
"It is a request to save the lives of the remaining two million Darfurian people."
"Darfur? I apologize if I am not completely understanding what this is for."
Chris went on to describe the senseless murders that are taking place and explain what is happening in the region in Sudan known as Darfur. Alan, with his newfound knowledge, was shocked and disgusted that a genocide could occur without any government response. Chris mentioned that his goals were to raise awareness and raise money to give to a fund that gives aid and support to the innocent people of Darfur.
"I have a couple questions. For one, how did you make them?"
"I hand made each one."
"Well Chris, what you're doing is very admirable and I applaud it."
"Thank you, what did you say your name was?"
"Alan."
"Well Thank you Alan, I appreciate it."
"So how much?"
"Five dollars."
"I don't think I could have spent five dollars any better."
"Have a good one."
"You too, Chris."
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2 comments:
I think your bracelets are an excellent way to raise money and awareness. Do you have written information and ideas for further action to give people who buy your bracelets? Have you decided where to send the money you raise?
Besides "Alan" have you found people to be supportive? Are they all ignorant to what is happening? Have you thought about how awareness can be brought to a broader scale or is this something people choose to ignore?
Well, to asnwer your questions, no, I have not found a fund just yet, but what I was actually hoping for was that someone could give me some ideas of where to send the money. I actually asked in one of my previous posts what a good fund was.
I have, in fact, found many people to be very supportive. For example, today I sold my father a bracelet and afterwards, he was at a waiting room at a doctors office and several other patients asked about his bracelet and when he explained what it was, they thought that it was a good idea and if given the chance they would also buy a bracelet. Another example, probably more relevant than the previous example, but a student in our Eighth Grade asked if he could buy one bracelet and while paying he decided to pledged twenty dollars. I was extremely appreciative of that and I am happy to say on my second day of selling bracelets I have raised a total of Eighty Dollars.
"Alan," was just one example of how I believe a person that is unaware is going to react. I do not believe that everyone is ignorant to the conflict in Darfur. But I have received a range of mixed responses. Such as, a simple "No", "What's Darfur?", or even "It's not our place to give support." And as I said before people have also been very supportive of my cause, and I am very appreciative of everything that they have given.
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