Hummingbirds Share Passion for Haiti’s Kids and Native American Communities

Long-time ASR contributor The Hummingbirds held their annual pre-Mother’s Day luncheon at the home of co-founder Jennifer Johnson. Mothers, daughters, aunts, and sisters were out in full force to enjoy mimosas and the delicious pasta bar provided by film kraft services company Mario’s Catering. This year’s event is the second to support Dig Deep, a non-profit  “working to ensure that every American has clean, running water forever”. Last year’s Hummingbirds’ brunch raised funds for a Navajo community in New Mexico.  This year’s brunch is focusing on water access for a Lakota Sioux community on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation, of particular…

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Discovery of Mythical Honduran City by ASR Supporters

Last Monday night we were privileged to meet the team behind the book Lost City of the Monkey God and the soon-to-be released documentary The Curse of the Monkey God, both chronicling the astounding discovery of the mythical Honduran ’“Ciudad Blanca” (White City).”  The film’s director, producers and ASR friends Bill and Laurie Benenson hosted the event at their home.  Steve Elkins, the environmentalist and filmmaker who was the driving force behind the journey, spoke of the twists and turns of his 20 year-plus obsession while he and Bill Benenson detailed the use of LIDAR (radar using laser technology) which enabled them to find the…

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Farewell Letter, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (revised)

[Correction: The letter that is referenced at the bottom of this blog was attributed to Marquez, but not actually written by him. It is still a nice reminder of what to value in life though so we are keeping it up!] I received this today from a dear friend who often helps to “keep me in check” and I wanted to share it with you.  There are portions that I think many of us need to be careful of–“I would sleep little, I would dream more, because I know that for every minute that we close our eyes, we waste…

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Thank you for 2013 and looking ahead to 2014

What a year 2013 has been! Aid Still Required has seen incredible growth and achieved major accomplishments: In Haiti, we began our support and guidance of OADENN, a children’s mentoring and support program in the northern city of Cap Haitien.  The program is working with over 100 kids weekly and provides everything from educational counseling, medical care, and team building, to safe places for play, yoga and meditation.  Heading into 2014, we aim to establish a physical center for expanded programming, to increase enrollment, and to support more kids going to school and receiving medical care.

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Pizza With An Icon – John Prendergast

More than 6 years ago, founder of The Community.com Mary Wald, put together a salon to host Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta.  At the time, Ramos-Horta was the president of East Timor and he was in Los Angeles to speak with several of Hollywood’s finest.  The host of the salon and board member of TheCommunity.com, Bonnie Abaunza, hosted the event and decided along with Hans Zimmer to have a “pre-salon” where the children of the attendees would also get a chance to sit down with Ramos-Horta around a few pizzas and have the opportunity to speak with him about…

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A Special Guest at ASR—Mukesh Kapila on the state of Darfur

Aid Still Required had the distinct honor of welcoming Mukesh Kapila to speak with Aid Still Required about the history of Sudan generally and, more specifically, the current state of Darfur and the people affected by the mass atrocities that continue there.  Given the demand for Mukesh’s time, it was amazing to have him join us for a few hours in such an intimate setting.  Mukesh also spoke about his book, Against a Tide of Evil that details the accounts of his role as the “whistleblower to the first mass murder of the 21st Century.”  Joining Mukesh was Naama Haviv…

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Help for ASR Supporter’s Family in the Philippines

As everyone has heard by now, the Philippines has been struck by a typhoon Haiyan, one of the largest storms ever recorded and it has caused indescribable destruction. We pray for those who have lost their lives and their families. Now we must turn to all those people whose lives were spared, but are now in life threatening situations without water, food, access to shelter or medicine. At this time, Aid Still Required is only helping to facilitate donations to the Philippines and cannot do direct service. It is our mission to go to countries after the first responders have…

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Spending my Birthday with Icon Gloria Steinem

“The most revolutionary of all qualities is kindness.” – Gloria Steinem Sometimes I just feel so dang lucky!!!!  This year my birthday coincided with The Ms. Foundation for Women celebration of Gloria Steinem‘s upcoming 80th birthday and I was able to be there.  For the under-30 crowd who may not have heard of Gloria, please, the second you finish reading this blog, google Gloria Steinem and send her a cosmic ‘Thank you’ for her tireless work to promote women’s equality, immigrant and labor rights, and affordable health care among dozens of other pursuits.  Her efforts to promote peace throughout the…

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ASR Board Member Dorothy “The Organizer” Breininger is at it again!

We are proud to announce the publication of Dorothy Breininger’s new book Stuff Your Face or Face Your Stuff.  A percentage of each sale will benefit Aid Still Required programs around the world.  Once again, Dorothy has been able to simply and clearly outline the steps we can take to help simplify and organize our lives.  In so doing, she shows us how we can not only reduce stress, but live an overall more healthy lifestyle as well.  As the organizing expert on A&E’s hit show Hoarders, Dorothy definitely knows her craft. We are lucky to have Dorothy on our…

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Team Aid Still Required heads to The Big Easy

One of the people we met with in New Orleans said that her city is more like “the Little Difficult than the Big Easy” but we found in our jam-packed week there that there is a lot to be hopeful about in the Crescent City. We were all in New Orleans about 6 months ago and it just felt like a different city then. This time we met with 4 powerful  after-school and extra-curricular youth development programs at both the middle and high school levels. Charter schools now represent 85% of the city’s public education system and for the most…

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ASR Supporter Payton Taylor needs our support

Up and coming country music star and ASR supporter Payton Taylor is working on the release of her new EP and she is using Kickstarter to do it. Payton has talked about Aid Still Required programs at her concerts and even made a PSA to call attention to the work that still needs to be done in New Orleans. Last year, she even wrote a song about the great storm, Katrina, that left New Orleans battered over 8 years ago. And now, she needs your support. Go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paytontaylor/payton-taylor-new-ep-release and chip in to help Payton put out her latest record.…

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Andrea at UN Conference on Women

ASR founder Andrea is in NYC this week for the UN Womens Conference on Women connecting with female leaders from around the world as they seek to create a more just society for women.  One of the women Andrea met this week was Hania Moheeb, an accomplished Egyptian journalist who is speaking out to call attention to the plight of women in her home country.  Hania has related her personal experience of the sexual assaults on women in Tahrir Square.  According to an ABC News report last month, Tahrir Square has become a hotbed for violence against women with dozens…

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How You Helped the Community Tsunami Early Warning Center in Sri Lanka

We just received word that the funds Aid Still Required sent to the Community Tsunami Early Warning Center (CTEC) in Sri Lanka have been put to good use!  CTEC is an incredibly important facility for the people of Sri Lanka.  If the system had been in place before the 2005 tsunami, many of the 2500 lives lost that day may have been saved.  The Center is helping to protect the villages of Peraliya, Thelwatta, Seenigama and Dalwathamullah and the goal is to expand the warning system in order to protect the entire coastline.  In addition, there is an educational  component…

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8th Anniversary of the Southeast Asia Tsunami

It has been 8 years since the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia took an estimated 230,000 lives. It was one of worst natural disasters of our time and the region is still recovering from the devastation.  Even as the physical structures are rebuilt and the land is cleaned up, the impact on the hundreds of thousands affected by the tsunami will never go away. This week, the team here at Aid Still Required went and saw the film The Impossible, starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.  It documents the true story of the Belon family’s experiences in Thailand on December 26,…

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A Great Project For Ghana by an ASR Supporter

Keith Goddard follows ASR on Twitter and hails from the beautiful city of Toronto. Keith reached out to us for some help with a project he is working on developing. The following is an explanation of his project that is focused on providing books to students in Ghana who otherwise do not have access to the materials they need. Many schools in Ghana have NO access to appropriate reading material for educational purposes. Keith is looking to change that for the kids at Bright Future School which is in Keta located in the Volta Region of Ghana. Check out the…

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“A Part of The World” – short documentary examining how volunteerism both helps and hurts in Haiti

“A Part of the World” premiered online today.  Executive produced by Keir Moreano, nephew of Aid Still Required supporter Mark Olmsted,  the film offers an intimate perspective of volunteering in Haiti by  medical worker Dr. Lisa Denny.  In just 13 minutes, the documentary team manages to provide key insight into the complexities involved in international aid relief.  Please click here to view: A Part of The World

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An Update on Darfur United

If you did not get a chance to see our first blog post on Darfur United, please check it out here.  Briefly, iAct is putting together an all star soccer team comprised of the best players in the Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad.  From roughly 280,000 refugees spread out over 12 camps across Chad, the top 5 players from each camp were invited to try out for Darfur United, the team that will represent Darfur in the Viva World Cup in Iraq in May of this year.  Darfur United is coming together!  Over the last several days, the Darfur…

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2nd Anniversary Mega Social Media Campaign: Maroon 5, LA Kings, you and SNOBALL

Please join us in cyberspace today from your comfy armchair at home, laptop in hand…or maybe during your lunch hour or tonight after the kids are in bed and you’re enjoying Jon Stewart.  Watch our new Maroon 5 PSA and the LA Kings PSA- Haiti is Not Forgotten. and…….. make a SNOBALL for Haiti!  Read on….. Aid Still Required has galvanized 43 celebrities with 155 million FaceBook and Twitter followers to FB post, Tweet, make challenges to raise awareness and funds starting today, January 12th, the 2nd anniversary of the devastating Haiti earthquake. Hundreds of thousands are still living in…

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Steal to Your Heart’s Content: The Incredible Edible Project

  We just heard about a town in West Yorkshire, England where you can steal to your hearts content without being arrested!!!!! Steal fresh fruits and vegetables, that is. The town of Todmorden has created Incredible Edible, a program to make their town completely food self-sufficient by 2018. Citizens plant fruits and vegetables in approximately 70 large fruit and vegetable beds planted around the town. Broccoli is planted by the railroad station in honor of a much-beloved recently deceased ticket master, raspberries, apricots and apples grown next to the canal towpath, beans and peas are planted by the area college,…

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Jody Williams Event at UCLA

On November 16, Hunter, Andrea and their new assistant Dan Parziale attended a lecture by 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams at UCLA’s Burkle Center for International Relations, presented by the International Human Rights Program at UCLA Law School. Her lecture, entitled “Rape as a Crime Against Humanity & War Crime: Accountability & the International Criminal Court,” was a powerful expose on the prominence of rape in war zones and areas of low government oversight. Williams received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to ban landmines. Since then, she has taken on countless projects, most recently chairing the…

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An Evening with Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Mu Sochua

Hunter and Andrea had the opportunity to meet Mu Suchoa, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Cambodian parliamentarian and human rights activist at an  Artists for Human Rights event co-hosted by Anne Archer and Donna Isham last night. What an incredible evening and what an amazing woman. If you are not familiar with Mu Sochua’s work, she is considered the most prominent woman in Cambodia’s leading political opposition, the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). SRP is leading the fight for access to equal economic opportunities for the people of Cambodia and for the implementation of effective social programs and political participation. For more…

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Milken Institute – Global Conference 2010

Aid Still Required was thrilled to be a guest at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference – Shaping the Future. We attended the third day of the conference which hosted over 3,000 attendees and represented 60 nations. There were 140 panels in just 3 days! The conference was focused on “jump-starting progress” to find tangible, sustainable solutions for modern social problems, as well as broadening of opportunities through providing greater access to capital, healthcare, & knowledge. The panel on Philanthropy in Early Childhood Education featured Mark Shriver, Vice President and Managing Director of U.S. Programs for Save the Children whom we met at the Britweek gala dinner honoring sir…

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Britweek: Fundraiser for Save the Children & Virgin Unite

Britweek is dedicated to celebrating the very special relationship between the UK and Southern California. One of the highlights of week is the gala dinner which we were able to attend as the guest of Martha DeLaurentiis, board member of Save the Children. This years guest of honor was Virgin mogul, environmentalist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, Sir Richard Branson. All proceeds of the event are going to support Save the Children and Virgin Unite. We were shocked to learn from Save the Children US program chair, Mark Shriver, that California’s Central Valley could comprise the 12th largest state in the US, but it would also rank as the poorest…

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Physicians Commitee for Responsible Medicine

On April 10, 2010 the ASR founders attended the Physicians Commitee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) Gala Dinner. ASR is committed to learning about ways in which we can all make changes in our personal lives to promote larger, social change. PCRM is focused on, among other things, finding techniques to replace animals labs in teaching hospitals and working to end use of animals in pharmaceutical and skin care testing. Thorough the leadership of Dr. Neal Bernard, PCRM has reduced the number of animals used in teaching hospitals 95% by proving their techniques (which include using simulators) are often more efficient…

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Afternoon Tea with CodePink

We recently attended Afternoon Tea with CodePink and Phyllis Bennis at CodePink founder Jodie Evans’ home. Jodie always provides a thoughtful forum for insight and discussion which is much appreciated. Phyllis, fellow at The Institute of Policy Studies discussed her book Ending the U.S. War in Afghanistan: A Primer. Also a fellow at the Transnational Institute, Phyllis has been an advisor to many senior-level officials at The United Nations. We were excited to hear her take on a situation that is far more complicated than we could have imagined. We were also privileged to meet up again with Daniel Ellsberg…

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Los Angeles Business Journal Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony

On March 9, 2010, the women of ASR attended the Los Angeles Business Journal’s annual awards luncheon. We had the privilege of meeting personally 2010 Business Person of the Year and LABJ Hall of Fame inductee Patrick Soon-Shiong. Surgeon, researcher, inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, he is a remarkable, humble man with an equally remarkable story. Born and raised in South Africa at a time when apartheid was still epidemic, Soon-Shiong began his medical career at a very young age in South Africa. Receiving half the pay of his Caucasian counterparts, he shone in his endeavors, overcame the oppressions of apartheid,…

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United Nations Global Creative Forum

We were so pleased and excited to be able to attend and contribute to the United Nations 2010 Global Creative Forum in Los Angeles. Held March 1, 2010, at The Armand Hammer Museum in Westwood, The Forum was chaired by Chicken Soup for the Soul CEO Bill Rouhana, and was created to bring together Hollywood, The United Nations, and a variety of world organizations. The morning began with an intimate, thought-provoking conversation between United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and actor Michael Douglas, who also serves as a United Nations Messenger of Peace. The UN Secretary -General made a special request…

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Ben Skinner at Youth for Human Rights International Event

On February 28, 2010, ASR attended an event for Youth for Human Rights International where we were honored to meet Ben Skinner, author of A Crime so Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern Day Slavery.   A Carr Center for Human Rights Policy fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School and winner of the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Skinner is both academic and activist. Skinner’s own first-hand experience with slavery began in 2003 while in Sudan on an assignment for Newsweek.  He met a young man, Muong Nyong, a former slave who was Skinner’s own age but who had spent half his life…

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Loyola Marymount presents Greg Mortensen

Last night, ASR Special Projects Manager Lindsay Huff took ASR Founders Hunter and Andrea and ASR Friend Laurie Benenson to her alma mater Loyola Marymount to hear author and humanitarian Greg Mortensen speak about his latest book “Stones Into Schools.”. Mortenson, author of  the bestseller “Three Cups of Tea”, has been working in Pakistan and Afghanistan since 1993 after recovering from a hike up K2 – the world’s second highest mountain.  In the weeks he spent recovering in the far reaches of a Himalayan village, Mortenson noted that the village children had no school and had to study on exposed…

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Aid Still Required Board member Dorothy Breininger honored at NAPO Awards

Saturday, January 30, 2010, we joined ASR Board member Dorothy Breininger, organizing guru, at the National Association of Professional Organizers Awards dinner. Dorothy, producer and consultant for A& E’s hit show “Hoarders” was honored as Most Innovative Organizer of the Year. Actress Kim Coles, of “In Living Color” fame, hosted the event and kept everyone in chuckles. We were pleased & excited to meet Dorothy’s business partners at Delphi Digital, Debbie and Ken Bitticks.

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Invictus Screening Honoring the Work of NGO’s – 12/9/09

As a part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Campaign, Clint Eastwood graciously donated his new film, Invictus, for an advance screening at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, two days prior to opening. The gala evening, co-sponsored by the City of West Hollywood in addition to thecommunity.com, recognized various NGOs, honoring the work that they do in light of Human Rights Day [December 10th]. About 400 guests were in attendance – over 1,200 were on the waiting list! Aid Still Required was asked to participate with other NGOs that included the One Campaign, Artists for Human Rights,…

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The Most Famous Woman in Afghanistan

Andrea is seen here with Malalai Joya, also known as “the most famous woman in Afghanistan.”  In 2003, at the age of 25, Joya stood up at a constitutional assembly and denounced the NATO-backed warlords.  She was elected to parliament in 2005 at age 27, and in 2007, she was suspended for her persistent criticism of the warlords and the government. Currently on tour of the US to promote her new book, A Woman Among Warlords, Hunter and Andrea met Joya at the home of CODEPINK Co-Founder Jodie Evans.  Joya is petite and soft-spoken until she starts speaking about the…

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Daniel Ellsberg is the Most Dangerous Man in America.

When CODEPINK Co-Founder Jodie Evans told the Paynes about an upcoming screening of The Most Dangerous Man in America, they changed their schedule and showed up for the Thursday night screening and Q&A session with film subject Daniel Ellsberg and his wife, Patricia. For those of you who might not know this important piece of history, the film documents Ellsberg’s transformation from Defense Department analyst to whistleblower concerning the government cover-ups about the Vietnam War and finally to anti-war and anti-nuclear activist.  Ellsberg is specifically known for releasing what became known as the Pentagon Papers, detailing the United States’ involvement…

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The Third Wave – Volunteering in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami

September 22nd marked the LA premiere and Academy Awards qualifying screening of the documentary, The Third Wave.  Made by ASR friend, Alison Thompson and her producing partner Oscar Gubernati, The Third Wave chronicles their experiences volunteering in Sri Lanka after the tsunami. It is a spectacular cinema-verite film, depicting the human reality of what it was like in the days, weeks, and months following the disaster.  In 2008, after seeing an early cut of the film, Sean Penn asked for a special screening at Cannes when he was head of jury there.  The film is scheduled to open nationally in…

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Poker Night with Hope Artist – May 7th, 2009

ASR was invited to participate in HOPE Artist’s Vice for Nice Poker Invitational at Fred Segal Conveyor in Santa Monica, CA.  The store was transformed after hours into a mini-Las Vegas with players crowded around gambling tables, gambling for good!  Hope Artist Founder, Andi Scull Steidle is shown below with Hunter. Andi’s husband, Marine Capt. Brian Steidle, was one of the key influences who inspired Andrea and Hunter’s work on behalf of the people of Darfur.  They met Brian at a 2006 traveling art exhibit, “Darfur, Darfur,” where Brian shared some of his experiences working as a photojournalist in Southern…

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