Candy and Condoms!
The main purpose of the table was to hand out candy, condoms, and information. We actually distributed all of our condoms, most of the candy, around a hundred flyers, and various brochures provided by Place of Comfort and REACH (an on-campus group). We mixed individual wrapped condoms (rather than entire strips of three or four) into the candy, which allowed people to inconspicuously take condoms under the premise of getting candy, thereby allowing us to reach even people who would have normally been too timid to take advantage of our efforts. When students told us that they were saving sex until marriage, we encouraged them to read some of the information, so they could better understand the plight of those afflicted with AIDS in our community.
In addition to the candy and condoms, we put together a game: "Pin the Condom on the Operation Dude." We made a large poster on foam-core with a picture of the man from the popular children's game, Operation. We then blindfolded people who came up to the table and let them try to attach a (wrapped) condom in the groinal region of the man. The game itself seemed to have a good bit of appeal, causing people to play and then come back with some of their friends later, which was then compounded by the fact that we were offering prizes to those who won. Once people played, they were more willing to take information or condoms, since the game seemed to make people more at ease with the topics at hand.
Overall, the Candy and Condoms event was a success.
posted by Kat @ 11:36 PM
2 Comments:
At 12:26 PM,
Kelly Head said…
I always forget that we're supposed to be keeping up with this, too, sorry.
In response to your blow-by-blow account, I have to say that despite my relatively short stays at the booth over the four hours it was operational, I was very impressed with the turnout. By the end, not only were most of the fliers we made distributed, but almost all of the candy and all of the condoms. I was concerned by the avoidance of people generally walking by (not because of our possibly controversial items, because we tried to tout the candy first as an incentive), I assume because they thought there was a catch involved. Admittedly, most groups who present themselves on campus are looking to recruit, organize, or protest something, while we were there solely on the mission of informing. We had to be a little more creative and entertaining than most, but I believe that we still managed to educate.
I was greatly encouraged by the number of people that stopped by and only picked up fliers and not candy. The group's ability to answer questions about current AIDS-related news and on-campus testing opportunities was also very helpful to some people. Most everyone who came accepted a flier, and if they threw it away afterwards, they were at least considerate enough not to do it in the sight of our vigilant watchers. Overall, I think it was a great success, and one that would be good to implement again, possibly as part of a larger campus organization or as a continual yearly operation.
At 3:13 PM,
Nichole_S said…
I agree!!! :) Not only did we accomplish our mission of informing others, but we had a lot of fun doing it! I loved that the majority of people were so cool about it. Dirty looks were really minimal, unlike our Mardi Gras condom-passing experience. If people said they were practicing abstinence, we were glad for them, and told them that they were more than welcome to take some of the condoms for their friends- which a lot of them did!
What really surprised me was the number of people who just wanted the information. I thought that we were gonna end up with a million fliers at the end of the day, a few condoms, and no candy. Turns out tons of condoms and information was distributed. Overall, it was a fun experience, for a good cause.
-Nichole
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