A summer at Orphans International

By Amy Ruan

A summer at Orphans International gives a new meaning to the phrase “rolling with the punches.” There are days where you are stuck with mundane clerical tasks on computers that never seem to run fast enough. Then there are events and projects which reaffirm your decision to work for a NGO despite the weight of your wallet. The Indonesian Consulate Fundraiser was the first OI fundraiser I attended and helped out with. Despite my lack of experience, I was told to model for the fashion show the day before the fundraiser. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel experience especially when Jim announced that OI raised $70,000+. But two day afterwards, I was updating Jim’s monstrous Outlook. But no matter what tasks you are ultimately handed with, everything you do is meaningful to the organization.
My major project was to create an Anime & Manga Fundraiser. One of the best things about the organization is the guidance you personally receive from Linda. She oversees your work and seems to have an answer for every question you may have. After plowing through Linda’s huge bag of contacts, I was fortunately referred to Peter Tatara of Reeds Exhibition. He is the program manager of the NY Anime Festival and the key to getting the whole fundraiser running. Although we had a general theme, a party always needs a budget. In OI, the theme for budget is to get everything donated. This is a particularly frustrating and tricky point but one will be surprised by the amount of support one can get with the right amount of luck or emails. Right now, the fundraiser has a great venue place at China 1 and two great J-Rock bands (Uzuhi & Echostream) willing to play for free. Planet Hollywood, Viz Media, Funimation, AnimEigo, ITO EN, NY Anime Festival and Anime Insider are donating items for our goodie bags and raffle prizes. Due to the limited resources, there are times when you have to extend yourself and learn different skills. Before the need for a promotional poster arrived, I didn’t have the faintest clue on how to use Illustrator or Photoshop. Even though I am still far from skilled with these applications, I at least have basic skills to create a poster. All in all, I am immensely pleased with the experience, skills, and knowledge I have gained through this internship.