SEQUIM — A chance to dance, play pool and darts, and otherwise enjoy a night at the Oasis comes Friday, as Danni Lowe of Sequim throws a fundraising party.
The event, from 8 p.m. until midnight at the Oasis Sports Bar & Grill, 301 E. Washington St., is a benefit for the Mujeres de Maiz Opportunity Foundation, the Sequim nonprofit that funds scholarships for girls in rural Chiapas, Mexico.
DJ OB 1 will supply the dance-friendly music, Lowe promised; admission is a suggested donation of $5.
“It’s great to be able to use my talents for a good cause,” said DJ OB 1, aka Owen Blake. “I will be spinning open-format style, which includes everything from modern, cutting-edge dance music to timeless classics, all seamlessly blended into one continuous mix without missing a beat,” he promised.
“For example, one turntable could have a popular ’80s rock song playing, and the other turntable would have a current top 40 hit” to complement it.
This live action is hard to explain, Blake admitted; he urges the mystified to come hear for themselves.
Mujeres de Maiz
Patrons will have the opportunity as well to learn about Mujeres de Maiz activities, which have blossomed over the past five years.
Judith Pasco, a retired Sequim High School Spanish teacher long known as Doña, established Mujeres in 2006 with the hope of helping a few girls finish high school.
Today, the foundation is funding college scholarships for 19 young women, plus Saturday morning enrichment programs for children, literacy training for adults and even eye exams and glasses for people in rural Chiapas.
Lowe, a student of Pasco’s at Sequim High from 1999 through 2003, went on to earn a degree in Spanish at the University of Washington. She focused her studies on Mexican indigenous women’s rights — and found herself galvanized, much as Pasco was many years ago when she first traveled to Chiapas.
The Mujeres de Maiz Opportunity Foundation has a straightforward mission, Lowe said: to support education for women and girls, so they may strengthen their communities in Mexico.
Gift certificates
Also Friday night, Lowe will hold drawings for prizes including gift certificates from local cafes and restaurants.
She’ll sell tickets for $1 each during the first two hours of the fundraiser.
“It is really lovely of Danni to do this for us,” Pasco said. “She has taken the ball and is running with it.”
Lowe plans to travel to Chiapas in December to meet the Mujeres de Maiz scholarship recipients. She also hopes to enter graduate school and is researching master’s degree programs.
To learn more about the foundation, visit www.MujeresdeMaizOF.org, phone 360-683-8979 or write to Mujeres, P.O. Box 1954, Sequim, WA 98382.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.