Busy Busy

So after spending last month’s post ranting about how cool I think Israel is and pretending I wasn’t being political =) I thought I’d go lighter, and talk about the law school’s Public Interest Project, since it’s what I spend most of my spare time working on these days!

The Public Interest Project, or PIP, provides $4,000 grants to law students who accept unpaid summer positions with non-profit, public interest or government organizations. Students have used PIP grants to fund employment working for prosecutors, public defenders, legal clinics and for civil rights groups in India and China and etc.

PIP is student run non-profit organization. Our main fundraiser is an annual auction that we are holding this year on April 2. To be eligible for a grant student applicants have to volunteer at least 10 hours during hte academic year for a non-profit or charity organization, put in about 15 hours helping PIP run and organize different events, write an essay, and solicit donations for us to use at the annual auction. I am one of the four auction co-chairs and I spend most of my time fielding student questions and keeping an inventory of donations.

While the organization is student run, the faculty and staff are very supportive. Some of our most popular items up for bid at the auction are professor donations. Professor Farnsworth hosted a poker game for the highest bidding group of students last year, Professor Collins hosted a BBQ at her house for 20 students, Dean O’Rourke brought a pair of students to a Yankees game, etc etc.

Good times, good cause! And it allowed me to have an amazing summer at the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources last year and will (if my application is accepted!) help me this year at the Conservation Law Foundation! Hooray!