Long Island Schools Raise over $16,000 for Schools in Northern Uganda through Non Profit Organization Invisible Children

(Long Island, N.Y.) Last fall, the students of Longwood Senior High School raised $8,922.20 while the students of Great Neck South High School raised $7,761.84 to rebuild schools in northern Uganda and rallied their community to end the longest-running war in Africa.  After accepting the challenge posed by the  non-profit organization Invisible Children, students were asked ‘how far would you go?’ as a part of their widely successful ‘Schools for Schools’ program to create awareness and provide education for the children of northern Uganda. 

Invisible Children aims to provide relief and sustainability in Central East Africa by mobilizing young people to be empowered to do something about the crisis in northern Uganda.  Through film, they expose the situation Central East Africa in a radically new way- with a documentary told from the perspective of high school students. Their latest piece of media, ‘GO’ follows a group of young people as they traveled into the heart of Africa’s forgotten war, and gives viewers the chance to experience it for themselves.

In 2006, a revolutionary fundraising program was created in response to the need for quality schools in northern Uganda – schools that have been destroyed by the 23-year war. Schools for Schools uses an innovative online social community to help students see where their money is going and connect to different projects, fundraising ideas, and supporters. Within its first year, students rallied together and raised over $3 million. 

Leading the fundraising efforts was Jenna Harris from Longwood and Juliette Miller from Great Neck South, who can proudly say they were among the top fundraisers in a pool that consisted of over 2000 schools raising a total of $1.2 million.

“What’s incredible about this program is that it relies on the most unlikely donors – high school and college students – to raise the money, allowing them to believe that they have what it takes,” said Laren Poole, Invisible Children co-founder and Director of GO, the new documentary released last August. “At the end of the fundraising competition, the top students have the chance to visit their school in Uganda to meet students their own age. It’s a story come full circle.”

That unique experience between students is the central focus of the new documentary, where students understand the war firsthand as they befriend students living and surviving among one of the worst humanitarian crises. Inspired by these strong friendships, Invisible Children will be awarding more students than ever before for the chance to go to Uganda in the fall semester. In addition to schools that raised the most money, Invisible Children has awarded three tickets to schools that raised the most books in “The Biggest Book Drive Ever,” a joint venture with Better World Books. 

One hundred percent of Longwood and Great Neck South’s efforts will go toward rebuilding Atanga Secondary School, one of eleven schools in northern Uganda being rebuilt by Invisible Children.

About Invisible Children, Inc.
Invisible Children is a social, political and global movement using the transformative power of story to change lives. By inspiring youth culture to value creativity, idealism and sacrifice, the movement fuels the most effective, adaptable and innovative programs in the world. Programs on the ground focus on long-term development through education and economic opportunities, while awareness and advocacy efforts focus on educating and inspiring the Western world to use their unique voice for change. The organization was created after the release of the 2004 film “Invisible Children: Rough Cut,” a revealing documentary about the plight of child soldiers in northern Uganda. For more information, visit www.invisiblechildren.com.