Penny Wars 003.jpg How do you raise over $15,000 in quarters, nickels and dimes in just six days? Students at the University Of Michigan Ross School Of Business found lots of creative ways: auctioning off karaoke dates with professors, squash lessons, house-cleaning services, canoe lessons, bike tune-ups…just about any skill or service they could market and sell to their peers. Lucky for us, organizers of the seventh annual B-School “Penny Wars” chose the Neutral Zone as the beneficiary of their creative fundraising competition, held between five teams of eighty-five first year MBA students (if you do the math, that’s about 425 total participants). Sure, one team may have raised the most money, but the NZ was the real winner, receiving the Global Citizenship Committee’s generous donation of $15,006.74.

Change Counts…

In Penny Wars, change counts for positive points, but dollar bills count as negative points. During the event, each of the five teams filled two water jugs with as much change as possible. They spent the time between classes auctioning off skills and services. Team captain Rudy Colberg said, “the fundraiser leveraged the unique skills of the people in our group.” Not a single penny came from outside of the business school; all of the money was contributed by fellow students. The event’s incredible success can be credited in part to the motivating factor of wanting to win. Organizer Jennifer Gilbertson says, “In the B-School, we’re all incredibly competitive.”

More Penny Wars for the NZ

Gilbertson says they chose Neutral Zone as this year's beneficiary because they liked the idea of supporting a local organization dedicated to youth and education. Though none of the organizers had visited the Zone before their fundraiser, Jessica and team captain Patibandla toured the space when they came to deliver the check. Gilbertson is now working with NZ Teen Cabinet members to help plan a teen-driven Penny Wars, pitting five teams of teens against each other to raise money for the Zone. The kick-off is planned for Tuesday, November 17, immediately following the NZ's Thanksgiving Dinner Celebration.

On Thursday, October 22, Neutral Zone was one of 7,500 organizations nationwide to host a "Lights On Afterschool" rally, as part of the 10th annual celebration of afterschool programs. The message: afterschool programs are key to the success of our youth, and we must keep the lights on and doors open! The keynote speech was given by Shamar Herron, from the economic development non-profit Ann Arbor SPARK.

The rally showcased local organizations that offer afterschool programs in the Ann Arbor area, including the Ann Arbor District Library, The Corner Health Center, EMU Gear Up, Ozone House, Peace Neighborhood Center, Planned Parenthood, the B.Side, SOS Community Services, The Young People's Project, Youth Empowerment Project and Community Records Foundation. The real highlight of the evening was the breadth of teen performances. Jamel Morrow and Brianna Williams of Corner Health Center Theater group performed a skit addressing the issue of teen pregnancy, while Glenna Benitez and Griffin Johnson, from Volume Poetry and Short Story workshops, performed pieces they've worked on here at the Zone. Neutral Zone DJ Ben kept the event lively with his funky record selection.

During the Lights On event, the Neutral Zone was presented wiht the 2009 MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Award for innovative programming, for $5,000. NZ received one of only six awards presented nationally. For more photos from the Lights On Afterschool event, click here.

Alumni Feature: Jake Scobey-Thal

This month we caught up with CHS alumni Jake Scobey-Thal over e-mail. During high school, he participated in the Neutral Zone’s Board of Directors, Teen Advisory Council, Volume Poetry and Breakin’ Curfew. Jake recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and is currently working for an NGO in Mombasa, Kenya that advocates for more transparent and accountable local government. He credits the NZ for helping to foster his passion to change the world. Here’s a bit about Jake, straight from the source:

Greatest Accomplishment since you left the Zone: The release of my day-in-the-life documentary, “Scobey Doin’ Work.” Yea, that’s me on the voice-over.

Where do you see yourself in ten years: I don’t know. Maybe I will be writing grants for a non-profit. Or back in school working towards a Ph.D.

If you could give a current NZ teen one piece of advice, it would be: Do You. And take more classes at Community.

Most memorable NZ moment: The Ninjas, headlining 2004 Breakin' Curfew.

Funniest NZ moment: My friend Sam and I performed a poem at Spontaneous Combustion called “The Bagel Poem.” I do not remember the exact content, but needless to say, it was about our collective love of bagels. At the end of piece, Sam pulled a bagel out of his pocket and threw it into the crowd. Molly Raynor who?!?!

Favorite NZ staff member: The matriarch, Lisa D. Apart from being one of the most enthusiastic and kind people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Plus, I always thought she had great hair.

Favorite NZ band: The Misters. “Snowflakes” is my make-out song.

What you miss about Ann Arbor: Zingerman’s. Blimpy Burger. New York Pizza Depot. The Thai place by Community with the friendly old ladies--the food in Kenya kind of sucks. And I miss the seasons. In Kenya, it feels like one of those horrible ska shows where everyone is sweating through their clothes and the room smells like a dishtowel. Except that it's all the time.

NZ Photo of the Month
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Ryan Shea, Alia Persico-Shammas and Caroline Robb working the door at Encore.