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

ASR Events • Children • Current Events • Haiti • Native American

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…

Read more

ASR Opens First Academy in Haiti

ASR Events • Children • Haiti • Trauma Relief

“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”                                                                                                     –  Margaret Mead Today we proudly inaugurated the first Aid Still Required Academy in Deuxieme Plaine, Haiti, for 119 children, 30 of whom are orphans.  The original inspiration came from the local community itself, a few hundred farm families earning…

Read more

Paul McCartney Supports ASR Haiti

ASR Events • Haiti

This past Thursday I accompanied our two “Win the Ultimate Concert Experience with Paul McCartney” winners to Candlestick Park.  I doubt there could have been two people more moved by the experience:  Zenda cried during the entire first half an hour of soundcheck(!) and Leslie, who had been to 12 Paul concerts before last week, broke down uncontrollably after we met with Macca – despite being in the company of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, California Governor Jerry Brown and other dignitaries. Paul took exquisite care with us, welcoming us very warmly and giving us ample time with…

Read more

Farewell Letter, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (revised)

ASR Events • Current Events • Media

[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…

Read more

Thank you for 2013 and looking ahead to 2014

ASR Events • Business Angel • Current Events • Darfur • Environmental Sustainability • Haiti • Katrina • Media • Tsunami • Women

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.

Read more

Pizza With An Icon – John Prendergast

ASR Events • Current Events • Darfur

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…

Read more

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

ASR Events • Current Events • 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…

Read more

Spending my Birthday with Icon Gloria Steinem

ASR Events • Current Events • Women

“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…

Read more

Andrea at the Clinton Global Initiative!

ASR Events

Several months ago, ASR co-founder Andrea wrote a thank you note to Western Union for helping us through an issue trying to get money to our women’s trauma relief program in Haiti. Shortly thereafter, we received a message from Western Union thanking us for the note and letting us know that it is stories like ours that keep them motivated and positive about the work they are doing. Fast forward a few months and we are in Haiti working with our trainers and we took a picture of them in their ASR shirts in front of a Western Union to…

Read more

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

ASR Events • Business Angel • Current Events

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…

Read more

Team Aid Still Required heads to The Big Easy

ASR Events • Current Events • Environmental Sustainability • Katrina

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…

Read more

Rosemarie McCaffery Antiques Hosts Benefit for Aid Still Required

ASR Events • Darfur • Haiti • Katrina • Tsunami

Thank you to all those who made it out to Rosemarie McCaffery Antiques last week to support ASR’s existing projects in Haiti, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, in Chad with the Darfuri refugees living there, and in New Orleans. It was a beautiful event thanks to Robert Ross who gave a moving talk on why ASR’s work is so important (maybe we will be able to post a copy of his talk on the ASR blog!), to Cathie Ross, Irene Mink and Rosemarie McCaffery for their tireless work in preparing the beautiful setting and to all the volunteers who made the evening so enjoyable. In…

Read more

Haiti Social Media Campaign Follow Up

ASR Events • Haiti

First, we wanted to thank EVERYONE who was involved in our Haiti Social Media Campaign on January 12th to mark the 2nd anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. There was an incredible outpouring of energy that worked to refocus the public’s attention on the work that still needs to be done there. As a result of so many’s concern and effort, we got great feedback and an incredible amount of attention on the projects that Aid Still Required is spearheading. We gathered a team of volunteers at the Coffee Connection in the Venice/Mar Vista area of Los Angeles for a…

Read more

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

ASR Events • Current Events • Haiti

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…

Read more

Family Fun Day Event Benefiting Aid Still Required and The Garden of Eatin’

ASR Events • Environmental Sustainability • Katrina

Hello Pismo Beach!  Playful Planet Co-founder Karen Duggan called ASR a couple of months ago and asked us to be the beneficiary of a wonderful event she is co-hosting in Pismo Beach July 30th with Harmony House Yoga and Honeymoon Cafe.  Why, yes, of course, Karen, THANK YOU, we’d love to participate! There will be something for everyone:   Whole Family Cookbook author, Scholastic 2010 Parent Blogger Award winner, mom, and former high-school teacher Michelle Stern will be signing copies of her new cookbook.  Clark Valley Organic Farms is providing healthy snacks, Storyland Yoga is presenting a yoga class,  Kids Entertainer Jody…

Read more

ASR meets up with Mark Mustian

ASR Events

On May 1st at the LA Festival of Books at USC, Andrea and Hunter were happy to meet up with celebrated author and childhood friend Mark Mustian. Mark’s most recent award-winning novel Gendarme is a powerful exploration of prejudice, love, transformation, loss, and memory set against the background of the Armenian genocide and deportations of 1915. Gendarme moves back and forth through time between an elderly gentleman facing mortality and his younger self, a Turkish officer “doing his job” . The novel captures the officer’s amazement as he falls in love with an Armenian deportee, challenging all his previously held…

Read more

UDHR Campaign Continues – Lakers Photo Shoot

ASR Events • Media

As part of its continuing participation in the UDHR Nobel Peace Laureate Campaign, ASR organized a photo shoot with Lakers Andrew Bynum, Luke Walton, and Jordan Farmar at the Lakers’ practicing facility. The three athletes held up signs representing the various articles numbers from the UN document, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as signs that say, “Join Us!”, written and signed by each of them in their own handwriting. Luke’s dad, basketball hall of famer Bill Walton is also participating in the campaign. ASR had the pleasure of seeing photographer Zoe Zimmer again, whom we had met at…

Read more

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Campaign – Sunset Gower Photo Shoot

ASR Events • Media

Thecommunity.com had invited ASR to participate in its Universal Declaration of Human Rights Campaign featuring Nobel Peace Laureates including the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created by Eleanor Roosevelt and adopted by the UN in 1948.  Its 30 articles spell out the fundamental facets of human rights for all people.  UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon said, “The Declaration was the first global statement of what we now take for granted – the inherent dignity and equality of all human beings.”  ASR is honored to join a campaign that speaks so true of…

Read more

ASR’s FIRST MAJOR FUNDRAISING EVENT – “A Night of Culture for a Cause”

ASR Events • Darfur • Katrina • Media • Tsunami

“June 20th” quickly became an ASR household buzzword with weeks of tireless preparation, culminating into A Night of Culture for a Cause.  Actress and ASR friend Barbara Bosson hosted the fete at her stunning Pacific Palisades home.  Thanks to Marble Arch Fine Afts and the Cracking Art Group, guests were greeted by eco-friendly, larger-than-life animal sculptures made out of recycled plastic, highlighting ASR’s commitment to environmental issues.  Animals included giant bulldogs and terriers, oversized sneaker-wearing chihuahuas, goats, giraffes, and alligators. ASR’s various projects in the tsunami region in Southeast Asia, Sudan, and New Orleans were featured on displays in the…

Read more

Cocktails and Karaoke for a Cause – June 3rd, 2009

ASR Events • Darfur • Media

On June 3rd, in conjunction with hiving.net, philanthropist Sarah Nicole Dolgen hosted a Cocktails for a Cause Karaoke Night in honor of Aid Still Required at her lovely apartment off of Sunset Strip.  It was a night of great Thai food from Sarah’s favorite neighborhood Thai joint, great drinks, and vivid discussion, with many young socialites in attendance, engaging Andrea and Hunter with incisive questions.  We hear the singing went on until the wee hours.  Thank you to Sarah and all the attendees!

Read more