This blog entry shall formally serve as my official and main announcement of the launch of my non-profit The Rogue Hearts Foundation, over the next couple of weeks.
It is with eager determination that I am finally able to put many of the pieces together to make this a relatively working (albeit currently one-man) charitable entity.
Rogue Hearts was conceived due to a void- after 15+ years of parties and partying, I started to feel a little empty inside, after each glass of wine, or after each song the dj played. Therefore, it was a matter of time that I decided to feel a little bit better about myself, one song, one drink, or one party at a time. So that my hangover or indigestion the next day, will feel a little bit better, knowing that those drinks and shots last night may have inadvertently helped feed a hungry child or saved someone from human trafficking, somewhere along the way.
Besides its traditional fundraising elements, I try to impose my passive fundraising doctrine whenever I possibly can. Passive fundraising means that I’ve determine a set % of an event’s proceeds to go towards the foundation and the charity, if any, that Rogue Nights happens to be supporting at the time. So, any dollar amount you may have spent at the bar or the dining table, a certain % goes to charity. Granted, these amounts can be small or even tiny. But over time and multiplied by hundreds of parties, plus more traditional fundraising methods, it adds up.
Also, my experience and network as a promoter allows me leverage and minimize my costs in terms of event-planning and other related resources.
I’ve also designed Rogue Hearts to support multiple charities - which allows me to support the multiple causes that I feel strongly about, but was too many for me to manage on my own. The foundation greatly enhances my capabilities.
When my grandmother died of Alzheimer’s, when several of my friends died from suicide or drug overdose, when one of my closest friends was trapped at Tower A on 9/11, it can become a daunting list of tragedies to make sense of. And a lot of the times, you end up doing not so much, or you become overwhelmed and paralyzed.
But with the foundation, I can support mine or my friends’ causes and charities, and they in turn can support me, be more effective in a fundraising or awareness campaign, allowing us to help others in a better capacity.
My only restriction is to not get involved in political or religious events. My goal is to be a uniting force and, as I have friends in both sides of either arena; therefore, to choose between polarizing agendas is ultimately an unfortunate waste of time and resources. At least from my perspective.
You can follow Rogue Hearts Foundation on this blog or its website RogueHearts.org or on Instagram or Facebook under @roguehearts01
If you would like to donate, please click on the link below:
Any amount helps tremendously and is greatly appreciated. At the very least or first simple step, please follow us on social media and/or share us.
Our first major launch event will be held in Miami during Art Basel 2017, to help the launch of our new lifestyle magazine Mode Culture, which in turn, is supporting my friend and artist Shawn Kolodny’s Fake Fulfillment Center exhibit. All proceeds from our magazine event, via Rogue Hearts, will go towards The Caron Foundation, which is a drug rehabilitation center, and Shawn’s charity of choice. It goes well in hand with the overall theme. And I look forward to Rogue Hearts being one of the umbrella elements of this project.
Our second launch event will be held in New York City, sometime after Basel. We’ll keep you posted on the details as we progress.
Thank you very much for all the support you’ve given us. And I look forward to growing Rogue Hearts, and be a part of the solution.
- Ruben Araneta, Founder
The Rogue Hearts Foundation
DINNER PARTY
PS. Tonite please join us for a low key dinner party at Megu 930pm celebration our launch. Proceeds of ALL dinner reservations made via Rogue Nights or Rogue Hearts will go towards Women In Need charity. Thank you.
