A Good Cause

I just got home from an amazing fundraiser. My daughter, Tori, and a bunch of her friends set up an afternoon/evening of music, art, and raffle prizes to raise money for Invisible Children. For those of you who don't know, Invisible Children is an organization founded in 2003 by a group of people who went to Uganda on a mission trip. They learned about a man named Joseph Kony who led the Lord's Resistance Army, intended to overthrow the Ugandan government. To man his army, he would invade villages and abduct the children to become soldiers. The group of missionaries were outraged and created a documentary called "Invisible Children The Rough Cut."

The cause has grown immensely over the past 8 years, due mostly in part by "roadies" who are volunteers who travel the country telling the stories of the Invisible Children and the horrors of Uganda. Tori has a passion for this organization, and will probably end up doing a tour as a roadie someday soon.

Next Monday, April 25, Tori will be participating in 25. This is a fundraising effort in which participants will remain silent for 25 hours. Now, I love my daughter, but Tori even talks in her sleep, so this will be a huge challenge for her.

So back to the fundraiser. Tori worked her hiney off (not that there was much there to begin with) getting donations for the raffle. And, today, for 5 hours, at Co Ho coffee house, these kids sang, drew names, told jokes, and sold cookies, caricatures, and hand made crafty stuff to help these people across the world from them. Tori is a fundraising animal. By about 8 pm she was completely drained, but kept pushing for donations. There were actually more raffle prizes than people. Tori started selling prizes for a dollar each. By 7:30 these kids raised $568.00. Really? I am so proud of all the college age kids who have a passion for this cause!

As a mom, I have tried to teach my girls to give back, regardless of income level. And my girls surprise me all the time with their generosity and selfless giving to others.

To find out more and contribute to Tori or Sammee for the 25 fundraiser, go to http://www2.invisiblechildren.com/. Thanks for your support, and thanks to Tori and her friends for having a passion for this cause.