Carolina HopeFest Music Festival Featuring Grammy Award Winning Indigo Girls to Benefit the Work of Nourish International
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Chapel Hill-based nonprofit Nourish International is partnering with the annual Carolina HopeFest music festival to benefit ground-level social entrepreneurs working on innovative solutions to the problems of AIDS and poverty in Africa.
Carolina HopeFest is a five hour music festival that brings together students and music enthusiasts to support the groundbreaking work of entrepreneurs in East Africa. Proceeds from this year’s event will be matched by Nourish International’s university chapters and used by Nourish International students working with community partners in Africa.
The fifth annual Carolina HopeFest will take place on Sept. 27 at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C. and features headliners such as the Grammy Award Winning Indigo Girls and acclaimed singer / songwriter Matt Nathanson, best known for his chart-topping 2008 hit “Come on Get Higher.”
Nourish International is a student led movement to eradicate global poverty. By running fundraising Ventures on their respective college campuses, students next use the funds they have raised to implement a sustainable development project abroad in a community affected by poverty. Past student projects include the development of clean water systems in Ciudad de Dios, Peru, and the construction of a community learning center and classroom in Mbale, Uganda.
“Partnering with HopeFest will allow Nourish International’s students to double the scope of organizations they work with in East Africa as well as their impact abroad” says James Dillard, executive director of Nourish International. “This is an exciting way to create international partnerships and facilitate cross-cultural work to eliminate poverty.”
The Nourish National Office provides ongoing support to students throughout the fundraising process and matches students with a reputable on-ground community partner organization.
In years past, all proceeds from HopeFest have benefited Beacon of Hope in Nairobi, Kenya. This year, with the help of Nourish International, HopeFest proceeds will expand to other organizations in east Africa through the network of Africa Rising.
Africa Rising is a network of more than nine different African-led grassroots support movements. One Africa Rising partner is the Millennium School located in Mityana, Uganda. Established in 2001, the Millennium School works with children ages 5-19, especially orphans, to lead a productive future while avoiding the risk of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The school offers housing to students who have no parental support.
“The vision of Carolina HopeFest has always been about more than raising money,” says Bill Stevenson, HopeFest founder and organizer.
“We want to create meaningful relationships between concerned people in the United States and innovative social entrepreneurs in Africa. This makes HopeFest unique. Helping Nourish International students create new projects in East Africa is a home run for us, and the matching grant program essentially doubles the impact of HopeFest this year.”
Other HopeFest performers include singer/songwriter Christa Wells, Jon Shain and the Mumbling Beefheads. A detailed schedule as well as tickets to HopeFest can be found online at www.carolinahopefest.org and at the door. For more information about HopeFest or to volunteer at the event, please e-mail Julie Jenkins with your contact information at julie.jenkins@nourishinternational.org.
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Nourish International was founded in 2003 by Sindhura Citineni as the UNC student group “Hunger Lunch.” Since incorporating as a 501(c)3 non-profit in 2006, Nourish has grown into a national organization, involving students at 29 universities across the United States. This past summer, Nourish sent 55 students and $45,000 abroad, working with community partners in Peru, Honduras, Mexico, Bolivia, and Mali. In 2008, Nourish received the North Carolina Peace Prize for excellence in cross-cultural solutions and sustainable development. To learn more about how to get involved, visit http://nourishinternational.org, or e-mail us at info@nourishinternational.org.
