BY LUCAS FERREIRA and SYVANNAH LOPEZ // Oct. 13, 2017 //

Recent natural disasters have smashed through multiple countries, leaving a wake of destruction and Curry College is looking to lend a helping hand.

Faculty and Staff have responded by organizing the first of multiple natural disaster fundraising events, planning to increase awareness and raise funds throughout the fall semester.

The first of this string of events is the Hurricane Re-Leaf Fall Fair, starting at 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14. Westhaver Park will be set up with multiple game tables aiming to raise funds for natural disaster victims.

The games and activities that will be available to students who purchase tickets from the ticket booth include ring tossing, bowling, football tossing, potato sack races, a dunk tank and much more. There will also be a cotton candy and popcorn machine.

On top of that, the school will run a campus-wide can-drive where the cans will be cashed in and the money will be put into the relief funds. All money earned from both the fair and the can-drive will be given to the American Red Cross. They will in turn actively and directly help out the places devastated by these hurricanes. There will also be donation boxes available throughout the fair.

The prospect of Curry College committing donations to natural disaster victims was first put forth at the Student Government Association (SGA) meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 4. Scott Daube, Assistant Director of the Student Center presented the idea in conjunction with the “Wicked Weekend” events.

Daube has been working with student center operations for four years and elaborated on his commitment to the fundraiser and what Curry College’s end goal will be for an amount of funds raised.

“This is just the start of it; we’re looking to do a lot more,” Daube said. “This is a traditional theme week; students can expect a lot going on already. So hopefully they’ll just be checking us out, and then hopefully the draw to continue to help and donate [will encourage greater participation].”

Unofficially, the goal for the end of the semester is $5,000; however, Daube presented some hesitance in confirming that was the official goal.

“$5,000 over half a semester could be considered crazy,” Daube noted. “But at the same time, I think we can make a huge impact.”

Student-body President Zoe Staude, a senior communication major, noted the event is a great idea and first step forward to making that big impact. She has taken into consideration the disparity of those affected and wants to help.

As for what she would like to see from other clubs on campus, Staude said she would like to see active participation and promotion from club members and invite others to attend the event.

A handful of clubs are doing just that by stepping up to put their name on the fundraising efforts. Groups like Crafting Crew, the Multi-cultural, Black and Latino Student Unions, Pre-Health Elite, and Curry Cares will help out the event by running ticket booths, activities and gaming stations. Some student-athletes have also joined in on the fun expressing their support for the cause and will be helping out and attending the event as well.

On top of that, Staude and SGA will be sponsoring prizes for the event that include but are not limited to T-shirts, goodie bags, smoothie or Starbucks vouchers, foam footballs, Curry gear, iPads, and cash prizes.

Despite the fair promoting games and a fun atmosphere, the main purpose is to raise funds for a good cause and students aren’t forgetting about that.

Jalen Campbell, a senior politics and history major, expressed his appreciation of this event and knows there aren’t only a finite number of people affected.

“There could be many students at Curry who were affected, or have family or friends that were affected by the hurricane” Campbell explained. “[On top of that,] some just want to help in any way they can.”

Funds will be able to be accepted in both cash and electronically, via Square Cash, PayPal, and Venmo.