EARTH POWER CONCERT

LET'S HAVE FUN TONIGHT!

CALLING ALL INTERESTED AND COOL PEOPLE IN MELBOURNE! THIS IS OUR LAST CALL TO REMIND YOU OF OUR CONCERT TONIGHT. DOORS OPEN AT 7 PM AND TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE GATE AT $10.

SHARE YOUR FRIDAY NIGHT FUN WITH THE GREEN WORLD YOUTH DAY ORGANISERS BY SUPPORTING THEIR FUNDRAISER.

VENUE: HOLY EUCHARIST PARISH HALL, 1 A OLEANDER DRIVE, ST ALBANS

SEE YOU THERE!

THE EVENT IS CARBON NEUTRALISED BY AN ANGEL.
THANKS MARIA!

Viva Kiva!

Here is a site with a really fantastic service that we could perhaps make use of in our YPD network.

Kiva provides a mechanism for connecting those with money to lend to those in developing countries who need finance for their projects.

It is doing record business after publicity on the Oprah Winfrey show and backing from Bill Clinton.

The striking difference…

(Scrutinizing the WYD 2008 registration fee)

These days, looking at the workings of affluent Australia, I embarked on a different journey and came up with a striking comparison that led me to much reflection and sometimes despair. The weeks of fundraising allowed me to take a step backward and look at the entire dynamics of funding.

However, when I looked into the following figures, something just isn’t right:

WYD REGISTRATION COST (for five days):

• Middle Income Countries (like Philippines) : 250 AUD
• High Income Countries (like Australia) : 400 AUD

TRAVEL COST:

• Manila-Melbourne-Sydney-Manila (Middle Income Country): 1,000 AUD
• Melbourne-Sydney-Melbourne : 220 AUD

The estimated daily wage for Philippines: 8 AUD. For an Australian: 20 AUD/hour Therefore, it takes 35 hours (or 4.3 days) an ordinary Australian to work his or her way to Sydney. A Filipino has to work for 156 days (5 months) to come to Sydney next year.

How GREEN can we get?

Murrindindi Climate Network

Here's an interesting local environmental group based in Murrindindi Victoria that seems to have a lot of practical ideas for action.

Check out a few of their suggestions here.

Meanwhile, over in the Philippines there is big news about the Australian owned Lafayette Mining company which operates on the island of Rapu Rapu.

The Age reports that Lafayette yesterday entered administration after a series of financial difficulties.

Local people on the island had long campaigned against the mine alleging that the company's operations had caused spillages and fish kills.

Fundraising Tips - have fun and raise money

Australia is a long way from home for all of us and not to mention quite an expensive place to visit so we've all been busy with various fundraising activities. Here are a few of our ideas:
1. We had a fete where we sold bbq sausages, ice-cream and drinks, had a kick-a-goal where the kids pay and if they score a goal against the professional goal-keeper they win a small prize. People donated items they no longer wanted and we sold them (trash and treasure this is called over here as one persons trash may be another persons treasure). We also took this opportunity to try and inform the local people about YPD and Green WYD.
2. The local people here held a concert in the school hall. They charged the public an entrance fee and had bands playing, choirs, Tamil dancers performing, break dancing and all sorts of entertainment. A great night of fun and also a brilliant fundraiser!
3. We had a 'walk to church day'. All the parishioners were informed in the newsletter and by Father Peter in the mass the previous week that if they drive to church on that Sunday they will have to pay a fine of $1. We stood outside the masses with a tin and everyone who drove contributed (usually more than $1). An excellent initiative to get people to be more environmentally friendly and raise money. We definitely noticed fewer cars in the car park that Sunday- excellent.
4. A sweep-stake was held here for a big horse racing event in Melbourne. People paid money to buy a raffle ticket, there were 16 horses taking part in the race. Out of all the raffle tickets 16 were chosen at random. 1 horse was then matched to 1 ticket and the ticket with the name of the winning horse wins. There were also 2nd and 3rd place prizes. Of course this concept can be used for all sorts of events, cricket games, football just use your imaginations.

Another idea that we are still working on at the moment is a bike-ride, we are hoping to get a big group of people to get sponsorship to do a bike-ride to raise awareness for our Green WYD campaign as well as raise funds, get fit and have fun. Also a possible event that we will be holding is a ball on St Valentines day, a night of eating and dancing for which we will be selling tickets.

Good luck with your fundraising. If we all work on it together we can achieve a lot.