Community Corner

Greeley Students Hold "Hope for Haiti" Benefit

Benefit concert proceeds with go to causes providing relief for the Haitian people in the midst of January's earthquake.

To help the victims of Haiti's devastating earthquake, students at Horace Greeley High School got together Friday and held a benefit concert featuring students and faculty.

The "Hope for Haiti" event was first organized from a meeting of students on the Friday before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, according to Mark Bayer, one of three assistant principals for the high school.

Bayer said that students brainstormed ways to fundraise and help raise awareness for what is going on.

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"So tonight's about a way for the community to come together both to raise money, to support local organizations that support Haiti, as well as to raise awareness of the tragedies associated with the earthquake," he said in an interview during the event.

Money raised will benefit the Afya Foundation, a Yonkers-based organization that has recently participated in other events for help Haiti, as well as Partners in Health and Oxfam International. Fellow Assistant Principal Michelle Glenn said that $2,000 will go to Afya for a plane trip to Haiti with medical supplies.

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Balloons with the red and blue of the Haitian flag adorned a hallway leading to the auditorium, well a variety of snacks served for $1, including cupcakes with mini Haitian flags.

In a separate but related donation campaign, the school collected water bottles to redeem them and collect money, with the proceeds being used for Haiti. Bayer said that each bottle cap collected would also represent each victim in the earthquake, based on estimates of the death toll.

Students even had donations in place during the school's recent midterm exam week, with containers placed in classrooms to give students the option of donating a quarter for each exam taken. Bayer said that about $1,500 was raised doing it.   

The concert itself gave a strong balance of both comedy and remembrance. Student-performed events ranged from an improv comedy skit lampooning Barney the Dinosaur, to instrumental or a capella covers of numerous songs, such as John Lennon's "Imagine" and "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. In between performances, students on stage read aloud accounts from survivors of the earthquake, which brought home the cold reality of the tragedy.

The event concluded with a new and odd skit performed by Assistant Principal Michael Taylor, with featured a new band that he created called the Snuggies, after the famous full-body blankets. During the performance, Taylor claimed to have "hypnotized" the band members – who consisted of parents who were also Greeley alumni – to play on command. At the same time, a mystery member, a student wearing a Snuggie and a motorcycle halmet, came on stage and seemed to throw a conniption when he "awoke" and removed his headgear. Another student, who performed earlier, came on stage to lip synch "1 2 3" by Britney Spears.

Ultimately, fundraising totaled about $5,000, with $2,200 for the night itself. While it fell short of an overall goal of $20,000, it was an impressive sum of money nonetheless. According to Bayer, turnout was roughly 200-250, a good number given the amount of time planned for the event.

"We don't usually plan this big of an event in two weeks, so it's really to the kids' credit," he said.


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