Thought the benefits are infinite, here are ten good reasons to start planning your event ASAP:

1) Educate your community- If you're a high-school student, you've probably noticed how there are tons of kids concerned with their hair and celebrities, and not enough kids concerned with the environment and social issues.  You can change this. We have faith in you.

2) Educate yourself- The great thing about deciding that you're going to educate your community on a certain topic is that YOU must become an expert on the topic yourself. Although you may be interested in raising awareness of an issue that you know a lot about, you must fully immerse yourself into it in order to educate people about it. This is good, I swear. With a set goal, you'll have a reason to focus on things that you already know are important. And because the idea of Arts for Awareness is to raise awareness of multiple issues at once, you'll have the opportunity to learn about other topics from your peers as well.

3) Promote leadership- Once you have decided that you are going to hold an Arts for Awareness event at your school, it will be up to you and the other students involved to make it work. But once again, this is a good thing! It's great, actually. To see your plans go from "planning" to stages, to "unfolding" stages, to "happening" stages, and finally to "success!" is an incredibly gratifying feeling. (Remember: We're here to help, too.)

4) Promote serving your community- In case you didn't know, community service is cool.  Arts for Awareness makes serving the community fun and interesting.

5) Showcase talent- Does your school have a music department? Do you have friends who play in local bands? Do you know of local bands looking for places to play shows? Does your school have an art department? Maybe an art club, or art association? I think you see where we're going with this. Aspiring artists can be found at all schools, and with artists, comes patrons of art, and groupies--and that is the truth.  By utilizing these local artists, you can draw attention to your event.  You will attract more people.

6) Bridge the age gaps- At the first Arts for Awareness event, all ages were represented.  We handed out flyers everywhere from our district's middle schools to senior citizen centers--and it paid off!  The great thing about an Arts for Awareness event is that there is no age to start to stop educating yourself, and there is no age to start or stop enjoying the arts.  In today's society, it's just as relevant for older generations to be made aware of certain new issues (such as the climate crisis and renewable energy) as it is for younger generations to learn about the severity of certain diseases that deserve more attention (such as Alzheimer's disease and Cystic Fibrosis).

7) Keep kids off the street- This one's self-explanitory.  If you are a student leader, you know how hard it is to host events that will actually excite and draw in your fellow students.  By involving myriad groups from the community, you're doing just that, because so many people will be directly involved with the event.

8) Promote the use of Arts for Awareness- After the event, artist participants will hopefully understand the importance of raising awareness and "popping the bubble," and continue to use their art to do so in the future. 

9) Help shape our future-  Education is the key to success; by educating your community about things that matter, we can work towards a healthy, impoverished, and moral society.

10) It's fun!!!!!!! (and free)