AMARILLO, TEXAS -- Many Amarillo residents are working to spread the message of the now viral video campaign of "KONY 2012."
The Church of Christ at the Colonies is inviting Amarillo residents to participate in a "Cover the Night" event on April 20. That's when it plans to join hundreds of other cities across the nation to canvas areas to bring about awareness of Joseph Kony.
"Our idea is that we are going to go out on the night of the 20th (April)," said Youth Pastor Ryan Van Deusen. "We want to go out that night and hang up posters, stickers and just canvas the city with these STOP KONY posters."
KONY 2012 is a 30 minute video that was uploaded to YouTube by Invisible Children, Inc. Its focus is to bring about awareness of Kony, the head of a group that's blamed for tens of thousands of mutilations and killings in the last 26 years.
Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
The video is spreading rapidly with nearly 40 million views on YouTube in less than a week. It's a hot topic with millions tweeting about it; it has been among the top 10 trending terms on Twitter, ahead of Peyton Manning and the launch of the new iPad.
Many other groups, including students at West Texas A&M University, are also organizing "Cover the Night" events.
The events are scheduled at sundown on April 20. People will cover the city with posters about Kony.
With all the popularity of this video, many are criticizing the Invisible Children organization because of its high administration fees.
"If you really want to be effective and make a difference then you need to give to effective organizations, said Amarillo resident Alex Kitchens. "Organizations with high administrative percentage, your dollar is not doing as much as it could be."
Kitchens said helping is better than not helping but people should always research the organizations.
"Whether it's local, or across seas, make sure you research and are sure where your dollar is going," he said.
