The staff of Santa Barbara-based Direct Relief International is eager to put faces to the names of community members who have given online support to Friday evening’s Twestival Local — Santa Barbara.
DRI, one of the world’s largest humanitarian medical aid groups, will be the recipient of ticket sales and auction items donated to the event, part of a global Twitter festival taking place Friday through Sunday in more than 200 cities.
The DRI event will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the rooftop patio of the Canary Hotel at Chapala and Carrillo streets.
Local organizers of the Twestival event hope to raise at least $5,000 to support DRI’s efforts to provide community health centers and free clinics in the United States, and free drugs and other medical supplies for the clinics’ low-income and uninsured patients.
On Thursday, Jim Prosser, DRI’s media relations manager, called community response to the event “fantastic” and praised the nearly 20 Twestival volunteers working behind the scenes to organize the benefit. More than 115 tickets have been sold, and Prosser expects a sellout. Advance tickets are $25 and, if available, will be $35 at the door Friday.
‘We are selling a handful of tickets every 30 minutes,” Prosser said Thursday morning, adding that all of the proceeds from ticket sales will go to DRI. “The Santa Barbara community has proven to be incredibly generous.”
The online-driven event will include 52-inch plasma screens with Twitter feeds, Prosser said. Ways in which event patrons can further fund DRI include a photo booth where donors can get photos taken with friends, which will be uploaded to Twitter live during the event, he said. To post tweets and photos from the event, attendees can send them from phones and include #sbtwestival in the subject or text line.
Two massage therapists will offer chair massages in exchange for donations, Prosser said.
He also praised the Canary Hotel, which donated the rooftop area and its bartenders for the event, and Citrix Online, which took care of all of the overhead expenses.
The evening’s activities will include live music, contests and prize giveaways, a short film about DRI, and a brief address by its directors and the lead sponsors of the event.
Some of the items donated for Friday’s silent auction include accommodations for two at the Ballard Inn, tickets to the Killers show Sunday at the Santa Barbara Bowl, dinner at local restaurants and more.
Click here for the Santa Barbara festival’s blog or click here for more information about the worldwide Twestival movement.
— Noozhawk staff writer Laurie Jervis can be reached at ljervis@noozhawk.com.