Project Description

Title: Flash Mobs for Charity

Abstract of Project: For this EDGE project, three different hip-hop based flash mobs will be put together to raise money for three different well-known charitable organizations. The chosen organizations are the “American Red Cross”, “The ALS Association”, and “Susan G. Komen: For the Cure.” In numerical order, the locations for these performances are, Cedar City, St. George, and then Salt Lake City. Each of the routines performed will have themes based upon each organization and will be recorded and posted online after each performance. While the flash mob is being performed, there will be someone going from person to person before and after each performance, carrying a sign and a bucket with the organizations’ logo and information on it, requesting and accepting donations. This will inform the crowd of the purpose of the performance giving everyone chance to donate. The goal is to raise no less than $300 for each organization. Two of the flash mobs will take place in two different locations and at the third location the third performance plus the other two will take place.

Changes Made: The title was rephrased to “Flash Mobs for Charity”, due to better cohesion. Due to the amount of dancers available and their varying schedules, the three flash mobs were condensed down to two with each performance still geared towards the theme of each organization. The National Ataxia Foundation was added due to one of the dancers having relatives with ataxia and the “American Red Cross” was substituted with “LDS Humanitarian Aid” due to having faster rates with donation distribution. Minimizing locations to just Cedar City at SUU was necessary due to safety concerns which prevented the flash mobs from being performed in malls at the other locations. And to save efforts and make donating easier for those who chose to donate, a QR Code and a message were posted on a sign and erected at each location of the flash mobs before, during and after the performances took place. The final change made was the goal of $300 to $500 for each organization due to greater ambitions.

Goal(s): My goal was to bring together a group of dancers to perform for people in the community and raise no less than $500 for each global organization chosen for this project.

Goals Achieved: I was able to achieve my goal of bringing a group of dancers together for a noble cause. While informing them of the organizations associated with these performances a greater awareness was achieved. The dancers were also instructed to invite others to donate as well as attend the performances at SUU. Though we were only able to raise a total of $10 for each of the 4 organizations, I have gained a determination to keep raising money though my project has reached its end and I see that as an achievement of my goal.

Outcome(s): By promoting each of these organizations with these flash mobs, it has not only raised money but also raised a greater awareness for these charities. Greater awareness for these organizations have caused other people to raise more awareness and also raise funds that have increased progress and help for those of these charities.

Met Outcomes: During the process of teaching, performing and posting these flash mobs with the organizations in mind a greater awareness of these charities has been raised. Though only $40 was raised in total during the duration of this project, I have seen the views of the videos posted increase as well as some of the dancers sharing the videos on social media. I have also seen many who were not involved in the performance spread the word on social media (Facebook and Instagram). Due to one of the dancers having family members with Ataxia, my awareness was raised about what it is and added it to the roster of organizations I was raising money for. After each of the performances there were several people who approached some of us and asked what Ataxia is (along with request of greater details about the other organizations) and I was then able to pass what I knew on to those individuals. Even though my project has come to a close I have noticed that through the exposure of the videos on YouTube and other social medias a few people have continued to add to the donations.

Unexpected Outcomes: The only major unexpected outcome was that after contacting the malls up in Salt Lake City and down in St. George about organizing these “Flash Mobs for Charity” they had to decline my request. The flash mobs were declined due to safety rules and regulations of the facilities which I knew was going to influence the amount of money that would be raised for these organizations. Performing for the students and faculty at SUU was a great experience but many of us students are still college students that are trying ourselves to save all the money we can and the malls were anticipated to bring in more money due to people already in the mindset of spending as well as more than likely not being low on funds from being a college student.

Deliverables: After all flash mobs have been performed, all proceeds will go to each charity. After the videos are posted online, views will increase significantly.

The Deliverables: The deliverables are the receipts or files that provide evidence of the donations earned and donated for each organization. Along with the receipts are the YouTube links to the videos taken of each of the flash mobs. The recorded views of the videos are visible on the page directly below the title of the videos.

Evidence of Donations:

ALS

file:///C:/Users/thaddeuscole/Desktop/The%20ALS%20Association.html

Susan G. Komen: For the Cure: Breast Cancer Research

They did not actually provide me with a receipt for the donation

National Ataxia Foundation

file:///C:/Users/thaddeuscole/Downloads/single_receipt_cffc89f0026a0137957e005056909a66.pdf

LDS Humanitarian Aid

file:///C:/Users/thaddeuscole/Downloads/humanitarian%20aid.pdf

Links used to send donations:

https://ww5.komen.org/

https://ataxia.org/donate/