by Sydney Garrett, staff reporter
The Roar spoke with Invisible Children president Mattie DeWitt on her role in the club and the upcoming tryouts for Invisible Children’s annual fashion show at Consol.
What does the Invisible Children club at Consol do?
The main purpose of Invisible Children [at Consol] is to raise money for the national organization. We do that through profit shares and little baby fundraisers. We have the fashion show, and that’s our big thing.
Invisible Children puts a pretty big emphasis on the people themselves, and their stories, and recognizing that you’re donating money to people. One of the things that the money goes to is defection flyer droppings. Those are basically these biodegradable flyers that say, “If you come home, your family isn’t going to hate you.” The LRA sometimes forces little kids to shoot members of their families, and they don’t know that their families are going to forgive them.
How do the actions of the national Invisible Children organization affect Consol’s club?
A lot of [the things we do] are facilitated by Invisible Children as an organization. I’m kind of like the middle man who kind of brings things. They usually post something once a week updating everyone on what’s going on in Uganda. The reason that Invisible Children has been so successful and the reason that they get a lot of flak is that they do a lot of media and things to draw in youth, which costs money. They get a lot of sass from people because they’re like, “You spend so much of the money you earn,” but [Invisible Children] earns more money than anyone else. Invisible Children as an organization is very tapped into what youth care about. A lot of people have a problem with charity from people that don’t really know about the charity, but you’re still earning money for something important. The intentions don’t matter to the person getting food.
Does this media coverage ever detract from these lofty, high-minded goals of Invisible Children?
I feel like it’s a little unnecessary for everyone to feel like the intentions of every donation are wholeheartedly perfect. Money is money either way. I would prefer people care about this as an issue, but if they just come for a fashion show or for a ping pong tournament, you still earn the money. It’s still meaningful to the people that are getting [aid]. I don’t think it really matters as far as feeling like the money is worth less. I do think that people that care about it for the issues care about it a lot more and are a lot more willing to sacrifice their time. Having people on your team that care a lot about the issues themselves is really important. As far as like earning money and stuff, the people who are donating and why they are donating, less.
The fun stuff is just targeting the majority, and if the majority includes people who care about the issues too, that’s great. If you’re seeking to get money by just guilt-tripping everyone, that’s just too much. It’s manipulative, and it’s not going to work. We’re in high school, and the majority of people that go to stuff are going to want to have fun.
How do you explain the enthusiasm for the fashion show? Is it mostly because of how fun it is, or do you think it can also be explained by the worthwhile causes behind the show?
I think it’s a mix. I think the fashion show is fun. It’s way more professionally done that I would have imagined, but it’s funny to see kids you know doing fashion show stuff. It’s a thing that everyone talks about later. There are only so many events in high school, so you might as well go to them so you have something in common with the people in your class. And it’s cute, everyone dresses up. It’s a big thing now. It’s one of those things that Consol has. Also, usually there’s a video at the beginning that talks about Invisible Children, and if anyone was completely unaware then it’s a little taste of what it is.
How do people get involved in the fashion show?
You sign up in front of Ms. Zahn’s room for a time slot on Oct. 29 or Oct. 30 between 6 and 8:30 p.m. Girls need to bring either heels or wedges. Wedges are recommended because [the hallways are] slippery. You try out and walk up and down the hallway, and after the weekend we post who the models are. There are practices once a week up until the fashion show. But it’s fun. It’s just like walking up and down a hallway with a bunch of hoodlums.
Does the time that you put in and all the planning and everything like that ever make it hard to remember the ultimate goals of Invisible Children?
I wouldn’t do the planning or the craziness if I didn’t have the goals [of Invisible Children] in mind. I wouldn’t subject myself to that many hours of having to boss people around. If it wasn’t something I already cared about a lot, or something I have seen so many people put so much into already, I don’t imagine that I would be nearly as motivated to care about it and to make it good.
For more information on how to get involved in the fashion show, click here.
