INPIRG hopes pledge drive nets $13,000

Volunteers for the Indiana Public Interest Research Group, a student environmentalist group, will be asking IU community members for pledges this week to help sponsor its four campaigns -- the New Voter Project, Campus Climate Challenge, Hunger and Homelessness and Higher Education Affordability.\nVolunteers will be stationed around some of IU's student-traffic hotspots, including Ballantine and Woodburn halls and the Collins Living-Learning Center, until the pledge drive ends Thursday.\nINPIRG's media relations intern and IU senior Joanna Lekkas said the organization hopes to get at least 1,300 pledges at $10 each. She also said each pledge drive volunteer will be working for about 10 hours and has an individual goal of 75 pledges.\nWhen students choose to donate to INPIRG, the $10 pledge is assessed to their bursar bill.\n"This money allows INPIRG to hire professional staff, run an internship program and be an effective voice for IU," said junior Sara Moore, president of INPIRG.\nMoore said this voice is evident through many of its accomplishments including contributing more than $9,000 last spring to local, national and international organizations fighting hunger and homelessness.\nOther than the Hunger and Homelessness campaign, INPIRG is also hosting the New Voter Project to encourage young adults, ages 18 to 24, to turn out to the polls for the upcoming election. \nThe goal of the Higher Education Affordability campaign is devoted to making student-loan programs more efficient.\nIU junior and INPIRG volunteer Brendan Liner said the pledge drive is probably one of the most important events for the organization. Also, he said if INPIRG does not reach its goal, it can probably still run its four campaigns, but he said it "definitely won't be as effective without an operating budget."\nNot only does the drive fund the professional advocates in both Washington, D.C., and Bloomington, but it also brings attention to INPIRG as an organization.\n"Each time someone pledges their $10, they become a member," Liner said.