+THIRD+
The day of the fundraiser starts off incredible.
Being that it's taking place in the clinic's back parking lot, Malia was worried about what the turnout would look like. Initially, they were going to have it on the campus, but the Board wouldn't allow that. They said that it was a 'political' statement and they couldn't be represented on either side.
Seokjin could do nothing but hold his tongue and stare at them after they gave the reason. The words that threatened to come out of his mouth probably would have costed him his job.
But despite the circumstances, the dance team's performance played out incredibly. Midas and Tyrell were able to come and dance with them. Hakeem was tied up with flights. It was delayed significantly so Malia just told him that he owes her one.
The basketball team had their dunk contest and Xavier won. Everyone thought it was funny because he's 'not even a basketball player'.
He got kind of sad after hearing that. Janae held his hand for thirty minutes after until he cheered up.
People were given the opportunity to donate directly to the clinic and a lot of people did. Surprisingly, a lot of professors showed up and gave money to the cause. Some of them couldn't stay for long but they still wanted to show their support.
The medical staff and people that help run the clinic couldn't be happier about the support they're being given.
The director herself is almost in tears as she stands in front of the building. The crowd stands in front of her and Malia and Namjoon stand to the right of her.
Namjoon holds the microphone, mentally preparing himself to speak in front of all these people.
"It feels weird to be up here talking about this knowing damn well it wasn't my idea." He chuckles and the crowd laughs.
"Truthfully, I didn't have an idea for my team's fundraiser event. I mean, I had an idea but hadn't researched a cause to donate to that hadn't been selected already. All of the big ones always go fast and are picked first. It's hard to think of something original by yourself. So I went to Malia and one of our best friends to talk about it." He explains how all of this came to be in the first place.
"Because of the federal repeal that was passed, a lot of clinics are losing funding for the care and services that they provide to thousands of people. And while the blanket of ignorance surrounding our government leads them to believe that these clinics solely provide abortion services or 'help women use abortion as a birth control method', that's simply not true.
"Clinics also provide sexual health education where the school systems are failing students because the government is trying to ban that as well. Clinics provide birth control methods to growing teens who don't have the support systems to properly give them their options. They provide fertility treatment to those who want to experience pregnancy but their hormones don't allow them to do so on their own.
"They provide treatment services to rape victims. People who cannot escape their abusers." Namjoon takes a pause and swallows thickly before continuing on.
"People who can or did escape their abusers but won't be able to live through the permanent physical trauma that's now growing in their wombs. Clinics provide life saving care to people who need to terminate a pregnancy in order to survive."
Malia holds her mic to her lips as she takes a deep breath in.
"Thanks to your donations and support today, the services that help save lives, the services that help educate people of all ages, ethnicities and communities will continue on. On top of the fundraising event done by both Georgia Tech's basketball and dance team, our sponsor Nike has agreed to match us 100% in donations."
