date: 01 31 2005

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Dust off your passports! We still need a few volunteers for March - and we have the feeling that not all of you who want to go have said so yet. There are now two trips scheduled for March:

First Trip
February 28 - March 12
Second Trip
March 14 - March 26

So speak up if you are interested, and please make sure you email Mach and that we have your volunteer information sheet on file. You should also make sure your passport is up to date and get any vaccinations you may need. You can find a lot more info about travel logistics on the website.

SPREAD THE WORD
We have many fundraisers coming up! We need volunteers to put flyers all over the city, attend the events and talk to people about what we are doing, answer questions, seed message-boards and blogs, spread the word by email, and of course: organize more fundraisers!

If you'd like to come by and pick up a set of general Phuket Project flyers, please feel free to stop by at Foote Cone & Belding, 100 West 33rd Street @ Sixth Avenue, New York City, New York. You can ask for Mach Arom or Emily Lepore.(map)

If you would like to have a set of flyers mailed to you, to distribute locally, please email Mach with your landline address.

RAISE SOME LOVE!
If you can't travel to Thailand, join volunteers as well as people you don't know (or both) at one of several fundraisers being organized in New York and Chicago. Overall, we have made more than 30,000 dollars to support the children and families of Phuket. And we hope to raise more - so join us for a drink and a little human contact on any of the cold February nights noted below.

FEB 2-4 (NYC): The kind people of Metro 53, Barroom, and Local East have extended their fundraising evenings this Wednesday through Friday, so hurry on down! We need both drinkers to drink, and representatives at all 3 places to answer questions people may have and collect donations (you might make friends with some cute bartenders while you're at it). Contact Audrey for more details. Last week at these bars was such a big success that they're doing it again. We made at least $4000! A lot of it was through Audrey personally talking to people and getting them to donate. (go Audrey!) Check our events page for locations and times.

FEB 11 (Chicago): Happy Hour at Maeve Tavern. 1325 W Wrightwood (at Wayne, near Southport) 6:00-9:00 pm The $25 entrance fee includes 3 hours of drinks (well drinks & draft beer) and a donation to The Phuket Project.

FEB 12 (NYC): We are working with Art4Life and the Players Theatre NYC to hold a fabulous NYC benefit. Among the performers is a guy who plays Gamelan and other music from the area on instruments he makes himself. Personally, I was relieved to hear they had canceled the clowns. There will be art for sale, and all kinds of other goodies. Learn more about the event at art4nyc.com. You can RSVP there too, or send your friends an e-vite. We REALLY need people to distribute flyers for this. All you need to do is grab a stack of flyers about the event from Leah Averre, the organizer, and go crazy flyering the whole city! Please contact her for more details at Leah.Averre@adelphius.com or at 917 903 4930. You will love the people involved in this benefit - they are a great bunch!

FEB 27 (NYC): Maya will need some help with the bands and the door at this event, as well as someone to man the info table. There are lots of great bands playing, including the MiseryLoves, Macho Grande, Kendra Flowers, and the Hungry March Band. Email Maya if you want to help either at the event itself, distributing flyers, or getting the word out about it.

Jeannette Belliveau, who was so kind to offer her book, An Amateur's Guide to the Planet, as an incentive for people to donate, reported that the orders have been rolling right in! Nice work, Jeannette. Check out the book on Amazon and the free book offer on our site.

Don't forget to sign up for our email group at YahooGroups so you stay in the know.We want to use this space for people to share a bit about who they are, why they are doing this, and to give others a little preview of the full group of volunteers.

Thanks everybody,

The Team at PhuketProject.org