Darius Goes West!!!
To anyone who has not seen or heard of the dvd Darius Goes West should order it and watch it. Its a great movie that shows an inside look into Duchenne. This year they need to sell a million copies so if you have not ordered it yet please do! Go to www.dariusgoeswest.org
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Angela on
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Do you happen to have the information as to where to order it? Thanks!
Ang :)
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Permalink Reply by Lori Ware on
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you can buy it at DariusGoesWest.org or google it. They are also on facebook...
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Permalink Reply by jessica and gary fluaitt on
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DariusGoesWest.com or charleysfund.com and he also has a myspace..
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Permalink Reply by Barbara Smalley on
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Thanks for starting this thread! Darius Goes West can be ordered from www.dariusgoeswest.org, which is the project's official website. Check out the blogs when there and also the Screenings link. Darius and the crew are on a yearlong cross-country trip as part of their "One Million DVDs...One Year" campaign and could be screening in your hometown. If you'd like to host a screening, contact them at dariusgoeswest@gmail.com. With $17 of every $20 DVD purchase going to DMD research (and $3 going to make more DVDs), if successful, these young men will raise $17 million for a cause they are incredibly passionate about. To help spread awareness of DMD, Darius Goes West also has a schools program targeted at middle/high school age students. This program comes with lesson plans for teachers in a variety of subjects. Thanks for your support, and please help us spread the word.
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Permalink Reply by Tina on
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I was wondering how long is the movie? Is there a 5 minute version? We're hosting a fundraiser on November 14th. 400 people will be present for this event. Dr. Eric Hoffman will be speaking to the audience. I wouldn't mind following it up with a quick DGW video. I don't want both presentations to last over 10 minutes. People are coming to eat, drink, and, dance so I want to get in a quick... this is what the disease is about ( I think them seeing Darius in a wheelchair will bring the message home) and this is what your donations are funding ( exon skipping).
Hope that makes sense.
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No, I don't think there is, but you could just show the intro of the movie or Darius also has a you tube video not longer than 5 minutes hope that helps.
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Permalink Reply by Gary Stepp on
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I attended the screening of Darius Goes West llast week at Davidson College, NC. The entire cast was there including Darius. The movie was superb!
Gary
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Tina said:I was wondering how long is the movie? Is there a 5 minute version? We're hosting a fundraiser on November 14th. 400 people will be present for this event. Dr. Eric Hoffman will be speaking to the audience. I wouldn't mind following it up with a quick DGW video. I don't want both presentations to last over 10 minutes. People are coming to eat, drink, and, dance so I want to get in a quick... this is what the disease is about ( I think them seeing Darius in a wheelchair will bring the message home) and this is what your donations are funding ( exon skipping).
Hope that makes sense.
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There is a You Tube clip that would be ideal for you to show at a fundraiser meeting. The youtube clip is available on the Darius Goes West website and of course, on You tube.
Tina said:I was wondering how long is the movie? Is there a 5 minute version? We're hosting a fundraiser on November 14th. 400 people will be present for this event. Dr. Eric Hoffman will be speaking to the audience. I wouldn't mind following it up with a quick DGW video. I don't want both presentations to last over 10 minutes. People are coming to eat, drink, and, dance so I want to get in a quick... this is what the disease is about ( I think them seeing Darius in a wheelchair will bring the message home) and this is what your donations are funding ( exon skipping).
Hope that makes sense.
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Permalink Reply by Christina on
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Hi Everyone,
I received this message on Facebook regarding a request for volunteers to get the word out about Darius Goes West to middle and high schools. The contact information is below.
Take care,
Christina
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Darius Weems sent a message to the members of DARIUS GOES WEST: The Vehicle2.
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Subject: 1,000 online volunteers needed! 1 hour of work!!
Today, we're reaching out to Darius Goes West supporters: we need YOU to volunteer an hour of on-line work to help Darius and crew reach out to schools across the country.
Our goal is to enlist 1,000 volunteers over the next several days. The skills needed are as simple as Google searching, copy-pasting, and emailing.
If you have an hour to lend us a hand, please email AndrewDGW@gmail.com with the subject line "VOLUNTEER". If you're able to devote more time, include that in the email. Also, if you know of anyone who would be interested in helping but may not see this blog, please forward this to them.
In a week and a half, a DVD of Darius Goes West will go out to every middle school and high school in the country. Reaching our volunteer goal will help ensure that as many of those DVDs are watched as possible.
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Permalink Reply by Cheryl Markey on
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I already purchased my DVD this past summer and have already enjoyed watching it! Please tell everyone to order theirs today, invite your friends to watch it and share this w ith your child's school! And remember to volunteer!
Cheryl Markey
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Permalink Reply by Gail D. McVicker on
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Darius Goes West gives those who want to fight Duchenne a wonderful opportunity. Darius and his friends made this DVD when he was 15 and has been going all over the country promoting an awareness of Duchenne and raising money toward a cure. We could get on the bandwagon in our communities.
Why not contact your local middle and high schools in their area to suggest to faculty members to show local students the DVD Darius Goes West? This is a grassroots documentary about two brothers with Duchenne and their caring friends and offers an amazing opportunity to raise awareness and money to research for a cure. I am reaching out to others about the Darius Goes West -- I have a 20-minute presentation packet prepared -- and it has been well-received.
I think this is too good of an opportunity to pass up. Aside from raising awareness about Duchenne and being a fundraiser toward a cure, other values-added are (1) teenagers relate to this DVD (2) It hits the heart of Duchenne yet is positive and inspiring (3) it is powerful and moving to view (4) it gives us an excellent opportunity to communicate this little know disease in our communities -- and there's more!
If you are not familiar, please watch this 2-minutes videoclip by visiting:
http://www.dariusgoeswest.org/blog/write-america-program/
If the link doesn't kick in -- please copy and paste into your browser.
You can also visit: http://residentmediapundit.com/?p=336 but the best introduction for those not familiar is to watch the videoclip above.
If you explore the Darius Goes West web page -- you'll find some excellent teacher-made discussion guidelines (perfect for any group showing) already in place. People are not only watching this in schools -- but community, social and cultural groups are also.
Time could be a factor because the crew who made this motivational DVD (including Darius) have visited groups in person but will not be on the road after September 29, 2009 (that by the way is Darius' 19th birthday -- his older brother Mario died when he was 19). Of course the DVD will be around, but it is very meaningful right now because Darius and his friends are traveling all over the country IN PERSON promoting this DVD. Right now they schedule visits to those who request but won't continue after Darius' 19th birthday (September 29, 2009).
The way they address Duchenne is something that students really relate to. They become motivated to take action in their communities. Students who have seen this have written every middle and high school in the country encouraging them to watch the DVD -- plus, most schools have been sent the DVD (but it may just be sitting around). It is exclusively about Duchenne although it points out diversity, disabled (in general) and wheelchair accessibility issues too.
Darius lost his older brother Mario to Duchenne. Before Mario died, he asked his friends to take care of Darius. They ended up taking wheelchair-bound Darius across the country and making a documentary of it. It is a very positive and moving DVD. Some of Darius' comments are: "Know about it." "Save this generation of boys." The DVD includes scenes of a very young boy recently diagnosed with Duchenne and how their hopes are pinned so much for a cure in time.
If you don't know who to contact in the schools around you, ask anyone and everyone for leads of caring and influential faculty/staff members.
I have attached a viewing guide offered by website.
To read about how the students in one school responded, read edited article below:
Darius Goes to J-D
Friday, October 17, 2008
By Elizabeth Doran
Staff writer The Syracuse Post-Standard
The Jamesville-DeWitt Middle School students who wrote to award-winning documentary star Darius Weems last spring asking for a personal visit weren't optimistic he'd make the trip. Now the electronic sign in front of the school trumpets "Darius Comes Northeast," and the kids are gearing up for his arrival.
"I thought it probably wouldn't happen because he's famous," said Bob Wason, 11, one of the J-DMS fifth-graders who wrote to Weems last spring. "But I'm excited to meet him, and I can't wait to see his pimped-out wheelchair."
Weems, star of the acclaimed film "Darius Goes West: The Roll of His Life," will visit J-D on Wednesday. It's the only school visit he's making in the Northeast outside of New York City.
Along with visiting middle-schoolers during lunch and attending a film screening Wednesday at J-D High School, 19-year-old Weems also will meet Syracuse University basketball players at the Carrier Dome on Tuesday.
The documentary, which won 28 awards at film festivals across the United States in 2007, tells the story of then 15-year-old Weems, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The native of Athens, Ga., had never left his hometown before he and a group of young college students traveled across the U.S. in 2005 in an RV to test wheelchair accessibility. Their ultimate goal was to travel to Los Angeles and convince MTV's hit show "Pimp My Ride," to customize the wheelchair Darius uses. Along the way, they forged a deep bond, learned about selflessness and raised awareness of DMD.
Weems' brother Mario died from DMD, a genetic disorder, in 1999. The disease causes rapidly worsening muscle weakness that starts in the legs and pelvis, and later affects the whole body. It affects boys and is the most common form of muscular dystrophy affecting children. By late childhood, most children with DMD are unable to walk, and most die by their late teens or early 20s.
Heather Meyer, J-D's counselor with Alcohol-Drug Abuse Prevention Education Program, a school-based program, decided last spring to show the film to a fifth-grade class. The kids were so moved by Darius' story they wanted to share the film with the whole grade, and then the entire school. This fall, all 870 middle-schoolers watched the film.
"The theme of the film is all about empathy and getting outside of ourselves, and the kids really got that message," Meyer said. They wrote to Weems telling him of the powerful impact the film had on them and asked him to visit.
The students are sponsoring numerous fundraisers, raising $700 at the last hat day. They also are sponsoring a spare change jar in the lunchroom, and several staff dress-down days and student hat days. The J-DMS Parent Teachers Group has donated $4,000 toward Weems' visit, and several local businesses have donated services.
The middle-schoolers say they want to help raise money to fight the disease, and also make people aware of DMD.
"It's the most killing disease in the world for boys, and I didn't know that many people had it," said Alexander Ferlenda, 11. "Watching the film inspired me to want to help. When Darius comes, I'll probably ask him what it's like to need people to help you whenever you want to do something. That must be hard."
J-DMS' Wason said he wishes they'd find a cure. "It makes me really sad because I know Darius won't live that long," he said. "I hope we can help."
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DGW Viewing Guide.pdf, 26 KB
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