Advocacy fair to help community connect with issues

It all starts with one: one person to volunteer at a soup kitchen, one person to write to a senator, one person to donate money to a worthy cause. \nAt the Bloomington Advocacy Fair on Sunday, Anne McLaughlin hopes get this message out to the community. Her organization, Hope for Change, organized the fair from 1 to 4 p.m. at Harmony School. There will be entertainment, as well as food and refreshments sold by Middleway Food Works to benefit Middle Way House. The fair will feature over 30 non-profit organizations from around the community, as well as from IU.\n"There's ... a lot of local groups that students can get hooked into, and they don't have to make a huge commitment," McLaughlin said. \nHope for Change is a group of families and students, according to McLaughin, that emerged after the recent election to work for American unification under worthy causes. The Bloomington Advocacy Fair is a way for groups that work for change to come together and educate the public on how people can make a difference. \n"I think there's a lot that goes on day to day that we can affect," McLaughlin said. "When we all come together, I think we can all advocate for change." \nThe Shalom Community Center -- which will attend the fair -- is one of those advocates. The SCC is a resource center for people who are homeless or in poverty. At the fair, the group hopes to teach the public about how they help the community, as well as recruit volunteers.\n"The main reason why I want to be there is volunteers," said Pam Kinnaman, volunteer and resource coordinator for SCC. "If people can find it in their hearts to give us a couple hours a week or every two weeks, that would be a great help," \nGroups from IU will also be attending the fair. The Indiana Public Interest Research Group hopes to let the public know what campaigns they are working on currently. \n"We're going to be letting people fill out postcards ... which will reduce their junk mail by 75 percent," said junior and Indiana Daily Student employee Vanessa Caruso.\nStudents who are interested in activism can also find tips on why they should get involved at the fair.\n"It's beneficial to the person whose new to activism and the seasoned activist," Caruso said. "It's really inspiring when you see that there's a whole lot of people working on great stuff."\nActivism and charity work can also be an outlet for students.\n"When you start working and changing (the world), whole new solutions turn up. By joining the (activism) community, you've made the change because your world starts to change," Caruso said. "It's a great place for students ... to come and learn valuable skills." \n-- Contact Staff Writer Catherine Hageman at chageman@indiana.edu.