Double the quota campaign brings telethon zest back to earthquake street

The earthquake cordon is down on Tory St, the election year has begun and it is time to dig deep to welcome more refugees to New Zealand.

That’s the message from Doing Our Bit’s Murdoch Stephens who will host and MC a telethon-style event to round off the group’s crowdfunding campaign.

Doubling as a celebration of Race Relations Day, Doing Our Bit will livestream the event as well as host guests in the newly reopened 17 Tory St Open Source Community Gallery. Opening the evening with a welcome from Mayor Justin Lester, the evening will close off the already successful PledgeMe campaign begun in early March.

Other speakers include the authors Emily Writes and Brannavan Gnanalingam; musicians Ruth Mundy and Vorn; ChangeMakers Refugee Forum board member Pakeeza Rasheed; and Rebecca Stewart, co-founder of refugee background catering company Pomegranate Kitchen, which will provide snacks.

“We’ve held vigils and protests before, but this night will be about celebrating. We’re bringing together some of the best speakers in Wellington to show that the time of Trump wont bring us down – it’ll bring us together,” said Stephens.

The campaign passed its original goal within one day of going live and is on track to go beyond its stretch goal of $10,000. The funds will allow the group to equip supporters with the tools to ensure the refugee quota issue does not get lost in the election year.

Asked whether he is confident the National party will release a policy increasing the quota before the election, Stephens was optimistic.

“National have shown they respond to public pressure. From our research we know that we have supporters from right across the political spectrum. We see the election as an ideal time to remind politicians that we need to do our fair share for people displaced by war and persecution.

“And heck,” he added, “we’ve had five medium-sized anonymous donations. Who knows, perhaps one of those is from a National MP and we’ll be seeing a Double the Quota t-shirt – one of our rewards for pledgers – make an appearance on the campaign trail.”

The event will begin at 7pm, with the crowdfunding campaign ending at 10pm.

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