I’ll bet you didn’t know that in addition to keeping bees, we at Hive Mind throw some kick a** parties. Specifically, 14 years running, we’ve been throwing a huge Halloween party, with all the proceeds going to charity. Here’s a little FAQ on it:
What’s Hive Mind Halloween? An outrageously fun Halloween party (check out some pictures from last year: Chrissy’s and Grover’s.) It started as a house party in 1994, with everybody just piling in and doing the decorating and cleaning up together in one crazy couple of days. It outgrew the house, clocking in at just under 1,000 people last year, but somehow has never lost its house party feel. I hope it never does.
Where does the money go?
100% of the proceeds get split between two flat out awesome charities:
- Room to Read (www.roomtoread.org): This group helps build schools and libraries in developing countries where poor villages simply don’t have the resources to get books for their children to read or even the rudimentary shacks in which to hold classes. Basic literacy is key to freedom and independence. I can’t think of a better way to help people then to teach them to read and to think. And get this: by partnering with local communities, they can do it really, really efficiently.
In 2006, for example, the Hive Mind Halloween party raised enough money to build an entire school in a village in Nepal, Shree Seti Devi. See the report and pictures of the school with the kids we helped! See it on a satellite map! Feel it!
In 2007, we raised $9,700 to fund scholarships for girls in poor countries, totalling 32 years of education. Be clear: this isn’t scholarship for an elite college, this is scholarship so young girls, 9 and 10 years old, can learn to read instead of working in fields, or worse. Want to see pictures of the girls we helped? Check out the Room to Read Yearbook.
- Youngstown Cultural Arts Center is a multi-purpose facility committed to providing space and support for creative expression, community building and positive youth development in the Delridge and surrounding neighborhoods. Besides our 150-seat theater, Movement Studio, and other community rental space, Youngstown houses seven non-profit organizations dedicated to youth empowerment through artistic development, and also has two floors of artist resident studios in the renovated Cooper School classrooms. Donations from Hive-Mind Halloween will go towards our All Access After School Programming, offering free classes every weekday to youth between the ages of 13 to 19 in Basic Studio Recording, Yoga, Spoken Word Poetry, Band 101 and more. The Delridge neighborhood has traditionally lacked safe and creative spaces for young people and funds will be used to pay the teaching artists and enable outreach into the high schools of West Seattle.
Sounds preachy. Is it any fun?
Ummm…yeah. Two rooms of DJ’s plus outdoor antic area, tons of art, everybody in costume. Not for the faint of heart. Really.
Can I help?
Yes! First: tell your cool friends about it. Second, we need volunteers to create it, set it up and clean it up. Join the Hive Mind Halloween Planning List if you want in! (Volunteers come for free, of course, if the $20 entrance is a concern)
When is it again?
Saturday, October 25th (the Saturday before Halloween). Full deets at www.hive-mind.com/halloween/08
What’s with the “Hive Mind”?
A “hive mind” is the super-intelligence that arises when a bunch of individuals act together, achieving things that each couldn’t alone. Think of how useful a single neuron is compared to a brainful of neurons. That’s us, everyone who works on something like this, coming together to make it happen. Read more about it.
