To Write Love On Her Arms bringing two artists, founder in April

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Ross Czepcinski is using his own connection with To Write Love On Her Arms to bring musical artists Damion Suomi and Andy Zipf to campus April 11.

He wants to make a difference in people’s lives with a passion that comes from personal history with the organization.

“I hold it really close to my heart and how much (TWLOHA) has helped myself and others I know,” the Rockford junior said. “As a freshman, I was going through some tough times; I found out about TWLOHA from MySpace three years ago. It really saved me.”

TWLOHA is a nonprofit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide, Czepcinski said.

It exists to encourage, inform, inspire and invest directly into treatment and recovery. After TWLOHA helped him through his struggles, Czepcinski decided to start a group on campus.

He said the community, at large, often overlooks people struggling with these issues.

“The topics are never talked about because there is a stigma associated with mental disorders and addictions,” he said. “To be perfectly honest, it freaks people out and, because we don’t talk about it, people get worse.”

‘Love is the movement’

Oakley junior Miller Dugalech and Czepcinski are part of the executive board of the new CMU chapter of TWLOHA. They are just waiting for the final paperwork to go through, which should be any time, Czepcinski said.

Dugalech’s involvement with TWLOHA is one of personal experience, too. He also wants to help people struggling with the issues the organization addresses.

“TWLOHA is a great vehicle to do just that. Love is the movement,” Dugalech said. “Depression, addiction and suicide are a growing problem on college campuses and their message of hope has helped me out a great deal in the past year or so.”

Dugalech said they had been brainstorming ideas on how to raise money for the April 11 event and the TWLOHA chapter at CMU. Program Board and the registered student organization Active Minds each gave $500 to go toward the event when they heard about Czepcinski.

“The Program Board contacted me because they have been wanting to have a concert/speaker event with TWLOHA for years,” Czepcinski said.

The money will pay for the hotel room, food, gas and any other expenses the two musicians coming to CMU acquire, Czepcinski said. The event will start at 7 p.m. at Moore Hall’s Townsend Kiva.

Andrea Galvez, president of On the Fly Productions, said she was happy to hear Czepcinski is bringing two musicians representing TWLOHA the same week On the Fly productions is hosting TWLOHA founder Jamie Tworkowski at 8 p.m. April 15 at Plachta Auditorium.

Galvez, a St. Claire Shores senior, and Czepcinski were unaware of each other’s events until the planning was complete.

“It is a happy coincidence,” Galvez said. “We have been talking about TWLOHA for a couple of years now and, when we found out Jamie was available, we jumped on it.”

Since On The Fly is disbanding, she hopes more groups will continue to do what Czepcinski is doing.