This Saturday, a benefit dinner will be held to rise money for Hait in Diversions of the Stevenson Union at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door.
The dinner will include a spaghetti meal, Hawaiian rock raggae music by Kekai Enomoto and Stephan Kane as well as a presentation by SOU senior Jamie Roupp. Roupp volunteered last summer at the Haitian orphanage God’s Littlest Angels and has been raising money for the orphanage independently since the earthquake.
“It’s been so cool to see the responses from our local community in Ashland,” Roupp said. “It’s nice to see people aware of what‘s going on, and that people are still willing to help,” Roupp said.
An alternative $5 ticket will be available at the door but it will not include a meal.
The Civic Engagement Club and Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group at SOU teamed up to organize the event.
The CEC and OSPIRG have collected almost $200 from ticket purchases, which will be split in half between the Haitian orphanage and the organization Doctors Without Borders.
“It’s been surprising that people who can’t come to the dinner have still donated a lot of money,” said Julie French, leadership coordinator of the CEC.
“It’s been great to see all of the support here at SOU,” French said.
The dinner is open to everyone in the Ashland community and donations are encouraged at the event.
“If students can’t make it to the benefit dinner, they can still donate. If they wanted to be more involved, they can still volunteer,” said French.
“We were also asking teachers on campus to donate in relation to helping Haiti,” Lauren Siegel, OSPIRG campus organizer said.
OSPIRG and the CEC, are only two of the many clubs at SOU that had a hand in the dinner.
“We really wanted to team up with any group out there. The Civic Engagement came to us first, and this was at the first meeting that we posted the date on Facebook. The other groups like ECOS [Ecology Center of the Siskiyous], QRC [Queer Resource Center] and WRC [Women’s Resource Center], are also helping because they are putting jar up for any donations if their offices,” explains Siegel.
The dinner is scheduled to run until 9 p.m.
