Coalition has been planning the annual Love Concert, the club’s main fundraiser. The concert will be held on Feb. 24 from 7-11pm. The profits made from the concert will be going towards Not For Sale instead of the usual recipient, Love146, which helps eliminate sex trafficking.
Not For Sale focuses on creating new jobs and sustainability by starting businesses in Third World countries.
“We wanted to start working with organizations that weren’t as big, and we felt like we could make a more personal impact on,” Coalition sponsor and social studies teacher David Muhammad said. “Year by year we are going to switch organizations to kind of spread the wealth around.”
There will also be less performers than at the previous concerts, but each band will have longer sets because Muhammad wants to give the attendees a chance to get to know the bands. This year there will be seven performers, compared to the 13 of last year.
Bands will be playing four songs and individual artists will be playing three. Junior Iris Hyde performed at the Love concert last year where she performed three songs, and will be returning again this year. She is looking forward to including more songs in her set.
“The longer sets will benefit the concert because each artist has more of an opportunity to connect with the audience and tell whatever story they are trying to tell, whether it’s through cover songs or originals.” Hyde Said.
The annual Village Presbyterian Chili Cook Off will be taking place on Sunday, Feb. 25.
Tickets will be on sale during Sunday mornings for 10 dollars. Teams planning on entering their chili will receive two free tickets to the event. All winners will get a $25 gift card of their choice and a trophy. Proceeds from this event will be going towards future mission trips to Haiti.
Junior Laini Reynolds and her friends, juniors Annabelle Cook, Olivia Caponecchi and Grace Padon, will be entering the contest this year for the fourth time. Her team, Heavenly Hog, is last year’s defending champions. The team has won two out of the three times they have competed.
“I love my church and I think the chili cook off is a really fun way to raise money for the youth programs.” Reynolds said.
While Heavenly Hog enters the contest for fun, they don’t shy away from the competition.
“In the past we’ve amped up our presentation with signs, extra toppings, a tray to put the chili on and aprons.” Reynolds said. “Sometimes two of us will go around and try to get people to try our chili to get more votes.”
The New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, has sued the Weinstein Company, claiming they failed to hold up human rights by sexually exploiting and abusing employees. The suit was filed on Sunday, Feb. 11 on the grounds that the company failed to protect employees from then CEO Harvey Weinstein.
The lawsuit is a result of an ongoing four month investigation into Weinsteins “unrelenting sexual harassment, intimidation, and discrimination” according to the press release.
In a press release issued by the New York Attorney General, victims will be helped through counseling and compensation in order to help them recover.
“[The Attorney General] files lawsuit to ensure victims will be compensated, employees will be protected moving forward, and parties responsible for egregious misconduct will not be newly empowered as part of any future sale” the press release said.
The lawsuit is a result of an ongoing four month investigation into Weinsteins “Unrelenting Sexual Harassment, Intimidation, and Discrimination” according to the press release.
The Head of East’s Men Against Sexual Assault Club, senior Thomas Murguia, thinks that the court case will be a powerful example of the consequences of sexual assault, but the best way to prevent it is to keep talking about it.
“The court does what it can in order to prevent assaults by punishing predators,” Murguia said. “It’s ignorant to say any one group or system can stop them completely, but so far the court is doing the best it can.”