University students who want to do more than donate bottled water and clothing will have a new way to help the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita this weekend.
BREC, Nickelodeon, Rosie O’Donnell’s For All Kids Foundation and the Fourth District Ministerial Association are sponsoring a free Fun Day in Howell Park on Saturday at 5509 Winbourne Ave. for the children of New Orleans and their friends and families here in Baton Rouge.
The fair-type event is meant to uplift the spirits of the young victims of the hurricanes.
Jeremy Johnson, one of the spokespersons for the event, said the event will include a stage set up that will host performances by magician Tim Gaines, the Imagination Movers and Tout Les Soir Band, a zydeco band. All the performers are local acts who have had to re-schedule multiple events because of the hurricanes.
In addition, Nickelodeon is bringing Spongebob Squarepants, Dora the Explorer and the cast of Blue’s Clues.
There will also be many games and rides as well as face painting and a community art project.
Johnson said Kelli O’Donnell, partner of Rosie O’Donnell, has been volunteering in Baton Rouge and is helping to coordinate the event with For All Kids Foundation.
“The foundation allocated $1 million to emergency relief efforts and has been tasked and managed, for the most part, by my high school friends and my family – that made it really easy to know that the money was being spent the correct way and on the right things,” O’Donnell said in an e-mail. “They’ve literally been going on shopping sprees for the evacuees; first finding out what they need and then hitting the stores to get it and take back to them.”
The main purpose of the day will not be fund-raising, but simply to bring joy to the displaced children, Johnson said.
“The Fun Day event was created to show the displaced children that the rest of the world truly is thinking of them and what it must be like to be in their situation,” O’Donnell said.
Johnson said the entire day will be free to dislocated families and their friends in Baton Rouge, and free transportation from Red Cross relief shelters to the event will be provided.
But, Johnson said with the 5,000 people they are expecting for the event, they only have about half of the volunteers they need, so he is appealing to University students who want to help out.
University students who want to volunteer should contact BREC or Jeremy Johnson with Clear Channel at [email protected].
Contact Zachary Broussard at [email protected]