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CARE bills Greenpeace, looks ahead
Poverty campaign says it lost 20,000 kroner to protesters; flea market, theater this weekend

Longyearbyen firefighters let local youths use fire hoses, ride in fire trucks and tour the station during an open house Sept. 26 to raise money for the CARE campaign.

Fundraisers say they lost 20,000 kroner to help impoverished women when Svalbard's governor was forced to cancel a day washing cars so he could deal with the Greenpeace protest at Svea.

But at least Longyearbyen residents will have more money to spend at a flea market supporting the same cause this weekend – and maybe have a few laughs afterward.

The governor usually spends a day each year helping local youths wash and put snow tires on cars as part of a series of fundraisers for CARE, an international humanitarian organization focusing on global poverty. Other events include the flea market from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at The University Centre In Svalbard, and the youth performance "Should We Act?" at 7 p.m. Saturday at Huset. The fundraising culminates with a nationwide telethon Oct. 18 on NRK1.

Anne Lise Klungseth Sandvik, chairwoman for the local CARE campaign, sent an e-mail to Greenpeace asking for the 20,000 kroner – or a donation to the telethon's auction worth that amount – after the environmental group blocked a shipment of coal from being loaded at the mine for more than a day starting Friday. The group ended the protest Saturday after police and other officials with the governor's office flew to the scene, with no criminal charges or fines pursued because orders to depart peacefully were obeyed.

"This is a service people in the city have looked forward to and waited on," Sandvik told Svalbardposten. "It is a welcome service from the governor, who has brought in a lot of money for the telethon. This year we were also extra clever with marketing and really mobilized, including the kids who put notes on people's cars."

Truls Gulowsen, chairman of Greenpeace Norway, told the newspaper he's sympathetic for the lost fundraising and will provide the number of the telethon to those involved in the protest, "but to force someone to pay is to go too far." He said the governor, if committed to the event, can reschedule it for another day.

Local CARE volunteers are now preparing for the coming weekend's events. Donations of items for the flea market are being accepted at UNIS from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, with free pick-up of large items available. Arrangements to consign items worth more than 300 kroner are also possible.

The stage performance features local youths offering a humorous, yet critical look at consumer society and helping the needy. Admission is 100 kroner for adults and 50 kroner for children.
More information about local CARE events is available by contacting Sandvik at an-lissa@online.no. Information about the CARE organization can be found at www.care.no and www.care.org.

More information about local CARE campaign efforts can be obtained by contacting an-lissa@online.no. Information about the CARE organization can be found at www.care.no and www.care.org.

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