Powerful Independent Notoriously Knowledgeable Women held a successful stuff-a-bear event at the Multicultural Student Services Center on Feb. 11, running out of supplies two hours earlier than expected.
“We wanted to do something fun and eventful, and we know that there’s a lot of people around that liked the stuff-a-ram event, so we thought why not?” Nyasia Dogans, fundraising chair for PINK, said. “This would be a great way to raise money for our organization as well as bring attention to our Black Excellence.”
Most of the event’s funds are going toward PINK’s next event, PINK-nic, on April 11. The funds raised will also be for future events, including community service efforts and mentoring.
The stuff-a-bear event was the result of about two months of planning and consideration, according to Isseu Ba, the co-chair of fundraising for PINK.
“We all have committee meetings where we all come together and throw out random ideas, but this one stuck the most,” Ba said. “We feel it gets people together to talk and have fun, so we want to bring our community together and raise money for PINK so we can have more events like this.”
Another University of Rhode Island student organization, Brothers on a New Direction, showed up to support PINK. BOND and PINK are brother and sister organizations, according to Jeffery Douglas, a third-year communications and public relations major and member of BOND.
“It was only right that I came here to support our sister organization,” Douglas said.
The event was well attended; attendees either made a bear for themselves or for a significant other. Everyone in attendance also had the opportunity to name their bear.
Douglas named his bear Mila and was making it for his girlfriend. Chris Batista, a first-year computer science major and member of BOND, named his bear Santana and was making it as a decoration for his dorm.
Most of the attendees found out about the bear-stuffing event through PINK’s Instagram page @pinkwomenuri, according to Batista.
“I feel like PINK allows us to be ourselves as well as show others that it’s ok to be themselves,” Dogans said. “When we have our meetings on Thursday, I try to make everyone feel included and everyone’s ideas feel heard.”
PINK has been around since 2006, according to Batista. On top of hosting fundraisers and interactive events, PINK also gives back to the URI community. For example, it has a “Nifty Thrifty” event where club members collect clothes for domestic violence victims and sell them to raise awareness.
“If you want to make an impact on campus, I highly recommend you join PINK,” Dogans said. “You could make a big change in such a small amount of time.”
PINK has weekly meetings on Thursday nights from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the MSSC Hardge Forum.
