Today, students looking to enjoy the crisp autumn air can also rake in the feel-good benefits of donating to charity.
Attendees at the class of 2013’s Fall Festival can play in an apple cider pong tournament, enjoy free food and participate in a cake-eating contest — Class Council members only ask that they bring either canned food or monetary donations.
All proceeds from the event, which will be at the Nyumburu Amphitheater from 4 to 6 p.m., will go to the College Park Food Bank and Silver Spring’s A Wider Circle — an organization that helps those less fortunate climb out of poverty.
“It’s perfect because it’s right around the holiday season,” Vice President of Philanthropy Lauren Kurtz said. “It’s a perfect time to do this and to help out.”
Kurtz, a sophomore business major, said although class officers organized the event at the last minute, they hope it will still yield a large amount of donations. Several students said they’d be glad to contribute.
“Sign me up. I did a food drive last year and loved it,” sophomore criminology and criminal justice and history major David Hornstein said. “I think it’s great, especially around Thanksgiving time. It’s nice to see it going somewhere to feed families for Thanksgiving that are less fortunate.”
Joey Sakla, president of the 2013 Class Council, said he expects the laid-back atmosphere to draw in participants.
“We hope that people come out and make friends and have a good time,” the finance major said.
“We’re also looking to help out good causes. We want to help those less fortunate while still having fun.”
The event, which isn’t limited to sophomores, will be funded by prior Class Council events and profits from T-shirt sales, Sakla said. They ordered all of the food through the Dining Services’ catering business, Goodies to Go.
In addition to collecting canned food items and money for the charities, Sakla said he hopes the event will be a bonding opportunity for students of all ages to get to know one another.
“It’s a chance for everyone to come hang out, talk, socialize and meet new people,” he said.
Several students said they thought the festival seemed like it had the potential to be a success.
“This event actually sounds like a lot of fun,” Kelly Shih, a sophomore government and politics and international business major, said. “I think I’m going to stop by on my way home from classes.”
Members of the council all contributed to the idea for today’s event, Kurtz said.
“In the beginning of the year, the entire sophomore Class Council was brainstorming about a lot of good, quality events and ideas,” Kurtz said. “Ultimately, we decided to combine them all into one huge Fall Festival.”
Sakla said he intends to use his position on the Class Council to launch more events and drives than what has been done in previous years.
He plans to sell more Class of 2013 T-shirts at the festival today after sophomores bought the first 500 in less than two days.
The council also plans to give away shirts as prizes for winners of today’s games and contests. Other prizes will include gift cards to various businesses on Route 1, Sakla said.
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