See how YOUR high school can be a part of the change.

The situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan is desperate. The Sudanese government unleashed the Janjaweed militia in February 2003 and, since then, at least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million were forced from their homes and now live in camps in Sudan or in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women, and children rely on international aid for survival. During attacks, the men are killed, the women are raped and villages are burned to the ground.

My friend, Nick Anderson and I started Dollars for Darfur because we wanted to help stop the genocide in Darfur. First, we started thinking about organizing a fundraising activity at our school, Northfield Mount Hermon in Western Massachusetts. Then we started thinking bigger: How about organizing a fundraising competition among local rival high schools?

Finally, we started thinking really big: What would happen if we used Facebook and MySpace to organize a national high school competition? We knew we were onto something when we did the math: There are 27,000 high schools in the US, and if each school raised $50, we could raise over one million dollars!

Next, we looked into organizations working to improve the situation in Darfur and learned about the Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of over 170 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations. We sent them a proposal describing our idea and were thrilled to learn that they wanted to meet with us. So, over the summer, Nick and I traveled to Washington, D.C. The people at the Save Darfur Coalition liked our idea and decided to make the Dollars for Darfur project part of their fundraising effort.

Since then, Dollars for Darfur has really taken off. Just two weeks after the project launched, more than 1500 students had joined our Facebook group. In that short time, 262 high schools set up fundraising pages with more than $400,000 in pledges. The numbers continue to grow every day and we are on our way to achieving our goal of recruiting 1,000 high schools and raising $200,000.  

Now, we're opening up the challenge to you. We invite all JVibe readers to join the Dollars for Darfur challenge. You can go to our website (www.savedarfur.org/dollarsfordarfur), click on the “Scoreboard,” and set up a personal fundraising page for your high school.

The website also has a resources page to help you organize fundraising events—you can download a PowerPoint presentation to give at your school, print out posters and find suggestions for fundraising activities.

Everyone can help spread the word—join the Dollars for Darfur Facebook and MySpace groups and invite your friends to join, too. The challenge ends on April 21, 2007 when the winning high school will be announced. The winning school will be recognized nationally by the Save Darfur Coalition and receive a prize, to be announced at that time. Half of the money raised will fund humanitarian efforts for Darfurian refugees and the other half will fund the Save Darfur Coalition advocacy efforts.

Our generation can help stop the genocide in Darfur. By using our online social networks, we will bring together high school students from around the country to stimulate a massive fundraising effort. We will turn our passion into political leverage by working together and provide much needed relief for people whose suffering stretches far beyond our imagination. Let's show the world how much we care and how powerful we are.

Get involved! Join the Dollars for Darfur National High School Challenge

1. Help build the network: Go to the Dollars for Darfur website (www.savedarfur.org/dollarsfordarfur) and join the Dollars for Darfur groups at Facebook and MySpace. Invite your friends from other schools to join.
2. Join the competition: Go to the ‘Scoreboard' page to create a personal fundraising page for your school and donate money from your school's fundraising activities.