IJDH wanted to cre­ate a forum to pay trib­ute to our sup­port­ers who have made cre­ative and inno­v­a­tive con­tri­bu­tions to our work. All of these efforts were ini­ti­ated by the indi­vid­ual and we wel­come your ideas.

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Fanm Vanyan Colleen McLaugh­lin: Devel­op­ment and Strate­gic Plan­ning
Devel­op­ment pro­fes­sional and com­mu­nity orga­nizer, Colleen McLaugh­lin, has taken vol­un­teer­ing to a new level at IJDH. We call her our fanm vanyan or heroine.

Colleen first heard about IJDH after her cousin camped out at the BAI office as part of a med­ical team after the earth­quake. The next day, Colleen emailed us, and asked how she could help. Two weeks later, she flew to San Fran­cisco where she caught up with the IJDH/BAI team and jumped into work meet­ings. Four weeks later, Colleen had raised sev­eral thou­sand dol­lars and had met with the Direc­tor of a major aid agency to demand trans­parency and account­abil­ity fol­low­ing an IJDH action alert on the sub­ject. Two months later, she trav­elled to Haiti as part of a del­e­ga­tion inves­ti­gat­ing rape and gender-based vio­lence in the camps and work­ing with women’s groups to plan col­lec­tive action.

Colleen’s strate­gic advice and fundrais­ing exper­tise, as well as her tire­less spirit and abil­ity to bring oth­ers on board has made IJDH a bet­ter orga­ni­za­tion in a few months. She has recruited fam­ily mem­bers and her col­league Kasia Paprocki of the Goldin Insti­tute, who brings her own invalu­able orga­niz­ing expe­ri­ence and energy. This week, Colleen is speak­ing about IJDH’s work at a fundraiser and awareness-raising event in her home­town, Minneapolis.

Colleen says she has cho­sen to sup­port us because: “IJDH and BAI are so much more than just lawyers. Real change is more than lawyers act­ing alone. Real change is find­ing lever­age points and think­ing about sys­tems. Real change is com­mu­nity. Real change is hav­ing the peo­ple involved in the work. Real change is hap­pen­ing at IJDH and BAI.”

Alex Good­ell: Web­site
Uni­ver­sity of Ore­gon stu­dent, Alex Good­ell, inspired by a speech given by IJDH Direc­tor Brian Con­can­non, vol­un­teered his time to cre­ate and design IJDH’s new and improved website.

Alex says, “It was such a plea­sure work­ing with such an ener­getic and devoted team and help­ing spread the word about the good work they do in Haiti.”

Laura Ray­mond & Audrey Bethel: Art Auc­tion and Ben­e­fit Concert

In 2008, Laura Ray­mond and Audrey Bethel hosted a 3-day music and arts fes­ti­val to raise aware­ness about Haiti and money for IJDH on Audrey’s fam­ily land in New Hamp­shire. They’ve made a cou­ple trips to Haiti to buy directly from indi­vid­ual artists and a grass­roots art coop­er­a­tive. This spring, they plan to hold another art auc­tion fundraiser in New York City to show­case the hand-picked col­lec­tion of pieces they brought back in August. The events are aimed at high­light­ing IJDH and BAI’s work and talk­ing about how peo­ple in the US can have an impact on US pol­icy towards Haiti.

Laura says, “IJDH and BAI stand for ‘jus­tice, not char­ity’ and their mis­sion and work, as well as the artists we’ve met, has inspired my involve­ment in this bud­ding project.”

Audrey says, “I love how the art­work we brought back gives peo­ple a chance to con­nect with Hait­ian cul­ture on a very per­sonal level.”

The Kelly Kids: Lemon-Aid Stand
Dur­ing the Boston Marathon, some of IJDH’s youngest sup­port­ers held a “Lemon-Aid” stand, rais­ing over $20!

The stand was orga­nized by Jack Kelly, his brother Brian and sev­eral friends — includ­ing Liam Gam­ble, Nick Harper, Mer­ritt and Tra­vers Losert and Tucker Mor­gan — who all helped to make lemon­ade, signs and to set-up and staff the stand. Sis­ter Meghan Kelly set up another stand. Pic­tured are Brian Kelly and Liam Gam­ble sell­ing lemon­ade approx­i­mately half-way along the route.

Albie Mason: Bake Sales and More
8 year old, Albie Mason, raised nearly $200 by hold­ing bake sales, a car wash and a raf­fle for a paint­ing. Albie wrote us a note (PDF) say­ing “I hope this helps.” To that, we respond with a defin­i­tive yes, each lit­tle bit helps. As they say in Haiti, “piti piti n a rive” (lit­tle by lit­tle, we will arrive).

Chia-Chia Wang: Fundrais­ing and Sup­port for Human Right to Edu­ca­tion Project
Chia-Chia, orga­nizer with the Amer­i­can Friends Ser­vice Com­mit­tee, is vol­un­teer­ing to develop edu­ca­tional mate­ri­als and plan fundrais­ing events for IJDH’s Human Right to Edu­ca­tion Project. She vol­un­teered in sum­mer 2009 in Port-au-Prince dur­ing her “fur­lough” and says that she was inspired by Mario Joseph and other BAI staff and that she con­tin­ues to be inspired by IJDH staff and their work.