Luther College senior Liza Demmer of Hartland was a member of the cast for the college’s 2009 production of the internationally acclaimed and controversial play “The Vagina Monologues” Feb. 27-28 on the campus of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Demmer, the daughter of Reed and Jill Demmer of Hartland, is majoring in acounting at Luther. She is a 2005 graduate of New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva High School.

The performances raised more than $3,600, all of which will be donated to charities that are working to end violence against women and girls. Ten percent of the amount raised is sent to VDAY national for the “Spotlight campaign” and the other 90 percent is donated to a local charity.

The cast of this year’s monologues has chosen Helping Services of Northeast Iowa’s Domestic and Sexual abuse resource center located in Decorah as their local beneficiary.

Each year V-Day spotlights a particular group of women who are experiencing violence. In 2009 the V-Day Spotlight is “Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource: Power to the Women and Girls of Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Though the war in the DRC is formally over, women and girls remain targets for violence. Physical and economic insecurity still characterize the lives of women and girls. The threat and use of violence are constant.

The Spotlight campaign will raise funds to support awareness, advocacy and action to stop sexual violence in the DRC.

V-Day funds will also help create the “City of Joy,” a project of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, DRC. This leadership development center will be a refuge for healed women survivors of rape and torture, providing them with educational and income-generating opportunities, activism training and leadership skills.

Produced in conjunction with the international “V-Day” project, the Luther College performances of Eve Ensler’s award-winning play “The Vagina Monologues” are part of the global movement to stop violence against women and girls.

V-Day’s 10-year anniversary was in 2008, and it was the largest V-day to date with more than 4,000 benefit events produced by volunteer activists in all 50 states and more than 40 countries.

Luther students organize, produce and perform the annual benefit production of Ensler’s play. The V-Day theater project is supported by the Luther College Feminists organization.

Over the past eight years, Luther performances of “The Vagina Monologues” have raised more than $16,000 for local and national charities.

Founded in 1998, the V-Day movement’s model of “empowerment philanthropy” has been a catalyst for activists, college students and anti-violence organizations to transform their communities in more than 120 countries.

V-Day activists stage large-scale benefits and produce innovative projects including gatherings, films, campaigns and community briefings. The V-Day movement has inspired projects in countries from Europe to Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, and all of North America.

V-Day, a non-profit corporation, distributes funds to grassroots, national and international organizations and programs. V-Day was named one of Worth Magazine’s “100 Best Charities” and one of Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities.

More information about V-Day and violence against women can be found at http://www.vday.org.