The Pies in the Face Event raised over Rp 32 million for two organizations to help with their work in assisting needy children across Jakarta and through the east of Indonesia with health care, financial support and education.  Photos courtesy of Meidana Lie & Jovita Angelina

One of the messiest events ever to take place in Jakarta returned for its second year last Saturday at the VIP Parking lot of fX Sudirman, South Jakarta, where over 300 whipped cream pies were tossed and smashed on the faces of nominated candidates for a price in the name of charity.

Count Me In is proud to announce that the Pies In The Face Charity event raised over Rp 32 million ($2,400) in the span of three hours and has donated the funds equally to both Taman Bacaan Pelangi (the Rainbow Reading Garden) — a non-profit organization which has established 29 children’s libraries in 14 remote islands across Eastern Indonesia and — Komunitas Taufan (Taufan’s Community), established for the moral, educational and financial support for underprivileged families and sick children in Jakarta’s local hospitals and foundations.

This year, participants were given the opportunity to choose from more than 30 nominated targets to toss pies made of 100 percent whipped cream either from 3 meters away for Rp 50,000 or get up close and personal for Rp 100, 000.

The opportunity was made even better as nominated targets included prominent figures, such as activist and musician Melanie Subono, stand up comedian Ernest Prakasa, singer and actress Nina Tamam, celebrity chef Erikar Lebang, television anchor Marissa Anita, gounder and chief executive of DiveMag Riyanni Djangkaru, Miss Indonesia 2014 Maria Rahajeng and co-founder of Indorelawan Widharmika Agung. Meanwhile, one candidate, Dimas Subagio took more than 15 hit of pies directly to his face during the event wearing just his suit and was honored with the first smack initiated by the honorable American Ambassador.

However, the success of the event wouldn’t have been possible without the help of several organizations including Indorelawan — an online volunteering platform and bridge for both volunteers and causes to connect — which delivered more than 35 enthusiastic volunteers to assist with the event.

“I chose to volunteer for Pies In The Face Charity because it’s our call to help others — in this case the unfortunate children. I was also fascinated by the unique and crazy concept!” said Dion Maulana Mohamad, one of the volunteers from Indorelawan at Pies In The Face Charity. “I have never been to a charity event like this before where you’re able to do maximum goodness while having maximum fun and meet new awesome friends. I hope this event will happen again in the following year.”

Volunteers were categorized into crews; the Whipped Crew responsible for whipping and plating pies, Protector Crew who helped the nominated targets to wear their protective gears, the Wet Crew responsible for helping the nominated targets clean up after the pie-smacking session, the Attention Seekers which gathered the crowd and the Officers which helped with the entire flow of the event and documentation.
“The reason why we supported Pies In The Face Charity event other than being in theme with our May campaign called Food United is because we think that this event is very unique, and most importantly it is for charity!” said Indra Hedy Lesmana, the fX Sudirman marketing and communications officer.
Other organizations which supported the event included Fortuna U, which offered to print the promotional ads in a nick of time, Nanny’s Pavillon restaurant and Vivo for providing the event with 50 boxes of whipped cream, Foundation of Mother and Child (FMCH) and Crown for producing the protective gears and towels, as well as Habibie Center and Crossfit Bengkel.
“Two great things were celebrated on Saturday: the spirit of volunteerism and a love of reading” said producer and director Daniel Ziv, who was one of the first targets of the day.
“I’m grateful to have had the chance to help out with such a refreshing initiative, even if it meant being publicly humiliated on stage and giving up what little remaining dignity I had”
On that note, the Count Me In team would like to thank each and everyone who participated, volunteered and supported the event in every way possible for a good cause.
As Hellen Keller so aptly puts it: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

The post Getting Messy With Pies In the Face, All for Charity appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Source: The Jakarta Globe