SEN and Bonnie Raitt Rock Out Against Nukes

Teaming up with the Guacamole Fund, Southern Energy Network had the awesome opportunity to promote its our anti-nuclear work in Florida, raise some money, and hang out with Bonnie Raitt. And what a great night it was!

SEN’s Field Director, Stephanie Powell and I worked with 3 amazing volunteers from University of West Florida to inform fans about the nuclear issues currently facing Florida. We encountered tons of folks who were already engaged on the issues and a few more that were in process of going off the grid with solar power installations at their homes. During the show, we took turns going in to enjoy the music. Personally, watching Bonnie perform was quite an experience! Her music has been in my life since I was pretty young, and seeing it live was phenomenal.

Bonnie Raitt, along with a number of other artists, founded a group called Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) that opposes nuclear power in favor of safer, renewable options like solar. To help the cause, they build fundraising into their ticket sales, giving fans the choice to purchase special V.I.P. tickets.  At this Pensacola show, there was a small dessert reception afterward. Bonnie was so careful to spend a few moments with each of the folks there, chatting with them and taking a photo. At the end of it all, we had the pleasure of spending a few minutes with her as well. She is such a genuine person and was very knowledgeable about the complex intricacies of nuclear power, as well as the details of Florida’s specific challenges in the face of this risky industry. It’s great to have folks with such public access on our side, spreading real information to folks about issues that affect us all!

 

No Nukes, We Need Solar in the Sunshine State!

 

 

Owning Our Movement: Turning “Junk” into Action

Now more than ever grassroots fundraising is critical to keeping our organizations and campaigns strong. It’s also a great opportunity for us to both literally and figuratively “own” our movement. Ellie Johnston, SEN Steering Committee member, and other incredible activists in Asheville did just that and raised over $1,000 to support our work.

Students at UNC Asheville clean house and raise money to support climate action

Check out what Ellie had to say about their event:

So as people who want to work towards a just and sustainable future we often face a dilemma in how to get the money to accomplish our goals. Grassroots fundraising should compliment the grassroots organizing that we are doing, right? But how do you sustain and support an organization with grassroots fundraising?

The students at UNC Asheville have renewed an age old method of raising funds–the yard sale. Selling your stuff is a great way to get some dough. If your a college student though, who just wants to support an organization and doesn’t own a bunch of stuff that you can give up, what do you do? Sell other peoples stuff.

At UNCA we had planned to have a yardsale as part of our Greenfest week for months, but 10 days out we still hadn’t gotten any donations in response to the flyers we had put up. So, we took a more proactive approach to getting stuff to sell. We realized that people who have yard sales have stuff they want to get rid of and by the end of the yard sale they still are left with stuff they want to get rid of. So we offered to pick up people’s yard sale leftovers in order to get it out of their hands and more importantly away from the landfill. A day and a half spent picking up yard sale leftovers around town resulted in a ton of really great items that we could then sell at our own yard sale the following week.

Early on we had decided on two things about this yard sale. First this was going to be a yardsale for the Southern Energy Network who has supported our organization on a lot things throughout the year and is going through a financial pinch like the rest of the world. And second, that we weren’t going to dictate to anyone what they would pay for items.

On the day of the yard sale we had it all setup out on UNC Asheville’s Quad and waited for people to come. People came trickling on to the Quad in hopes of seeing the huge yard sale that we had advertised. At the register people would come up with their rollerblades, coffee makers, and flannel shirts while we explained that the proceeds from this yard sale were going to the Southern Energy Network and asked them to make an offer on what they were buying. No offer was ever turned down and many were really quite generous. In all we got just over $1000 from selling people’s leftovers, not bad eh?

People everywhere love a good deal. Now that the weather has warmed the bargain hunters are on the prowl and would love to support your favorite organization (especially when they find that Mt. Rushmore tea cup to complete their collection).

A huge thanks to Ellie and team! Also to Reagan Richmond and students in Tennessee for the $250 they raised for SEN through an art opening and raffle.

Feel inspired, support SEN and our work to promote a youth-led movement for a clean, just and sustainable energy future!