Aid Still Required Tirelessly Tackles Forgotten Causes

Aid Still Required, the organization created by Landmark Forum graduates Hunter Payne and Andrea Herz Payne, and the origins of which were rooted in the time in 2004 when they took part in Landmark's self-expression and leadership program, continues to impact communities affected by disasters that are no longer in the news headlines. Worthy projects through Aid Still Required impact those who affected by the unrest in Darfur, Hurricane Katrina and the Asian Tsunami, among other disasters.

The organization recently teamed up with Academy Award winning composing legend Hans Zimmer in an innovative fundraising campaign timed around Mother's Day – Zimmer produced an inspiring song titled Save an Angel, written by a Los Angeles high school student about women and children around the world. All of the proceeds from downloading the song through iTunes goes to worthwhile charitable organizations such as Aid Still Required.

Download the Save an Angel here for just 99 cents.

Here is a public service announcement made specifically for Aid Still Required for the campaign by former football star Rosey Grier:

According to the Aid Still Required website, Hunter Payne came up with the idea during the Landmark SELP to take the CD he'd just made, add tracks from musician friends of his, and send the proceeds to benefit survivors of the tsunami in Southeast Asia. Then he began thinking that if he got celebrities to give songs, he would be able to raise a lot more money. Soon he had songs donated by everyone from Ray Charles to Paul McCartney to Eric Clapton.

As time went on, new calamities affected the world – Hurricane Katrina and the violence in Darfur, in the Sudan. The Paynes also visited the tsunami region during this time and were shocked at how little had been done and how many people were still living in refugee camps years after the tsunami.

Educating themselves on these issues, the Paynes founded Aid Still Required to have an innovative, cost-effective impact on crises that had fallen from public view and were not longer getting as much relief funding. They also teamed up with a number of professional basketball players to create public service announcements to raise awareness about what was happening in Darfur.

According to The Los Angeles Business Journal, providing aid to those affected by the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile will be next on the agenda as the headlines from those disasters fade.

"One of our mottos is 'Just because it's left the headlines doesn't mean it's left the planet,'" says Hunter Payne.

Go to Aid Still Required for more information.

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2 comments

Andrea Herz Payne says:

Thank you, George, for your thoughtful article and for spreading the word about Aid Still Required.   
The release of the Aid Still Required CD conceived in our SELP program will be in June – please let us know how we can contact you with the press release.  Yes, it is five years in the making.! Tho'  we have to keep getting reacquainted with them on a continual basis,  those  distinctions like Unstoppable and Unreasonable and  No ( among other things) Being Empty and Meaningless have been our fuel.
For us, the CD is a physical manifestation  of what Landmark exemplifies,  the possibility of transforming lives, our own as well as others,
Hunter's and my  ongoing participation with Landmark Education has given us a life with Aid Still Required that we had not even visioned.  
Sincerely, Andrea

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