DONATIONS NOW ACCEPTED!

To Donate to our Trip fund please visit:

www.necmusic.edu/give

Please Designate "Musicians for Humanity" as recipient.

Thank You for Your Generosity!

A Proposal to Fund Musicians for Humanity Haiti Relief Trip

Proposal Prepared by Allegra Levy

President of Musicians for Humanity

February 10, 2010

Mission Statement

Our mission as musicians, speakers of a true universal language, is to take responsibility for those who have been silenced. Through bi-monthly meetings, school-wide activities, concerts and an end of the semester multi-media, musical showcase, Musicians for Humanity will attempt to raise both awareness and funds to combat human rights violations around the world. Voices of activism will flood the halls of NEC and take up arms against indifference in our own community. We will challenge our students and teachers to exit the solitude of the practice room and enter into solidarity for the greater good. We will educate, we will inspire, we will make change.

Project

This semester, the focal project of Musicians for Humanity is to help heal the people of Haiti, physically through the distribution of supplies and emotionally through our music. We as musicians and able-bodied college students are ideal for this task.

What differentiates us from other relief groups

Unlike other relief groups, we will be communicating through the language of music to reach out to the Haitian refugees. There have been several articles detailing how Haitians have been specifically using music to cope with their recent devastation.  Our community outreach performances in Les Cayes, Haiti at the Bethesda Evangelical Mission of Les Cayes church, HELO orphanage, and a local hospital will be a sincere morale booster. Impromptu performances in places like the refugee camp “tent city” will also be sure to bring hope and healing to a ravaged community.

Parent Organization

Catherine Brubeck-Yaghsizian and Arne Yaghsizian, are the founders of Jazz’d4Life. Their organization has been doing charitable work in Haiti for years. They have built a school in Les Cayes and have been supporting Les Cayes HELO orphanage. Their main Haitian contact, Pastor Lubin, has organized seven trips a year to Haiti since 1984, he has had two successful relief trips since the earthquake and will be our trip leader.

Logistics

A.            Dates: Tuesday, March 23 – Sunday, March 28, 2010

B.             Schedule of Events

·      Wednesday – Friday, 8am-5pm:  we will be based in “Tent City”

 Tent city is a refugee camp with thousands of displaced people in the  Les Cayes soccer stadium

o        Will be assisting nurses and distributing food, water and medical supplies

o        Will engage in impromptu musical performances among tents

·      Friday Evening: Concert at Bethesda Evangelical Mission of Les Cayes

o      Musical cultural exchange with members of the six BEM choirs

o      Open to the whole Les Cayes community. Hundreds expected to attend

·      Saturday: Musical Day trip to HELO orphanage & Hospital

o                           HELO orphanage – Concert and clinic with the orphans (the orphanage has doubled in size since earthquake).

o                           Hospital visit – Concert and comfort for patients

C.             Participants:

      
      Allegra Levy
      Junior Undergraduate Jazz Vocal Perf.

Kimberly Mayo
Sophomore Undergraduate Jazz Vocal Perf.

Katie Seiler
Graduate Jazz Vocal Performance

Stephanie Wieseler
Sophomore Undergraduate Jazz
Saxophone Performance/ Singer

Stephen Mann
Berklee College of Music Alum,
Guitar performance, group board
member,graphic designer, photographer

Logistics continued

D.            Travel, Lodging, Food

·      Travel : March 23rd, 2010

o                           Depart Logan Int’l Airport, Boston, 9:31 a.m

o                           Arrive Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1:48 p.m

o                           Depart Santo Domingo on rotary plane

o                           Arrive Les Cayes, Haiti, 5:20 p.m

·      Food & Lodging : March 23rd – March 28th

o                           Dormitory Mission House, part of John Lubin’s church, Les Cayes, Haiti

o                           All Food prepared daily by Mission House chef

·      Travel : March 28th

o                           Depart Les Cayes, 9 a.m, rotary plane

o                           Arrive Santo Domingo, 10:30 a.m

o                           Depart Santo Domingo, 1:19 p.m

o                           Arrive Logan International Airport, 11:54 p.m

E.             Health and safety

·      We are in communication with NEC nurse Leah McKinnon-Howe to ensure that all shots, vaccines and health precautions are taken. We have also received information from the US Communicable Disease Control Center in Atlanta.

·      Pastor Lubin, a translator, and a security detail – all Les Cayes locals – will be with us for safety at all times.

·      Our lodging, The Mission House, is a dormitory located on church grounds next to the pastor’s house in a safe and gated area.

 
Financing

Goal: $5000

Cost of approximately $1000/per person will cover:

·      Roundtrip commercial airfare

·      Roundtrip charter plane

·      General transportation (rented van for our entire stay)

·      Translator expenses

·      Food and lodging

Funding Strategies:

·      Concert Fundraiser – Two popular NEC groups whose popularity extends across all Boston college campuses will play a benefit concert in two weeks

·      Collection Boxes – displayed at concerts and around NEC

·      Online Approaches:

o                   Web Direct-Mailing

o                   Personal letters

o                   Donation Site / Blog

o                   “Web-Blast”- a detailed and exciting webpage with our project information with direct donations through a paypal account.

·      Frequent Flyer Mile Donations (contingent upon airline confirmation)

·      Matching Grants:

o                   Level of Options

§  $1,000 Lead Gift

§  $500, $250, and $100 Supporting Gifts

Funding Timeline

·          

·      Projected flight cost is approximately $500, and flights are to be booked no later than February 23^rd (one month in advance).

·      We are working with Catherine Yaghsizian from Jazz’d4Life on a specific payment plan that is realistic for the trip and for our current financial situation.

·      All funds will be processed through NEC’s Student Activities Center, overseen by Colleen Palmer, Director of Student Activities

·          

For more information please visit the following websites:

Jazz’d4Life: www.jazzed4life.org

Bethesda Evangelical Mission: www.bemhaiti.org

Musicians for Humanities: www.musiciansforhumanity.blogspot.com