This Saturday, doing the Electric Slide could help the environment at the Go Conscious Earth’s (GCE) Shake It for Climate & Change benefit night.
Candor Plaza is one of the founding members of GCE and now acts as its executive director. She said the dance party fundraiser will be a night of both fun and funds.
“We've traditionally done a big holiday auction and all of that, but this year we're going to be having a really fun dance party,” Plaza said.
Live musicians will play before the dancing begins, but when attendees hit the floor, a DJ will take the stand. Drinks and light snacks will be served.
Then, graduating students from the UNC public policy school will give a presentation as part of their capstone projects, which explore how to use social media campaigns for fundraising, Plaza said.
One such student is Mckenzie Mixon, a UNC senior. She said the project itself consists of social media research and a social media portfolio that informs educational and marketing presentations. This project can then be presented at summits and meetings for GCE.
Mixon said this project is unique because it doesn't follow traditional public policy approaches. This project allows the team members to combine marketing and policy research.
“Go Conscious Earth tasked us with helping them devise a plan to bring more awareness of their organization and the preservation work they do in the Congo Basin Rainforest,” Mixon said.
Mixon said she has enjoyed working for the company because she admires their mission, their origin story and their work. She appreciates that GCE is focusing on the Congo Basin, as it receives less support than the Amazon Rainforest because it is smaller.
“It has been a privilege to work with GCE this semester,” she said. “Their support of the Community Forestry Model, which gives land rights to the people who live there so they can participate in forestry management and land use decisions, is important to note as well. They truly care for the people in that rainforest as well as the rainforest itself.”
Board member Barbara Holloway agrees with Mixon about the impact of GCE. Holloway said the company’s goals include helping the indigenous people to sustain the environment and its upkeep. The funds from the party will go to furthering that program.
“It’s a great way to give back,” Holloway said. “We have so much wealth and food, and (the Congo Basin region) is actually the most impoverished region in the world, despite the fact that they have more untapped resources than anywhere.”
Holloway said the party would be a great way for people to have fun and do good during the holiday season.
“In the time of Thanksgiving, it’s a really good opportunity to go out, have fun, shake it up with friends, and contribute to this conversation,” she said.
Plaza said GCE tries to throw a party at the end of each year to bring the community together and thank its patrons. This year’s will be a great fundraiser, as well.
“We like to think of our networks of support as a part of our community, part of what we’re doing,” she said. "It’s a multi-layered intention of having people come together and feel the difference we’re making.”
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