This semester's Cause Dinner, a biannual charity event hosted by Tufts University Dining Services, will take place tonight in Dewick−MacPhie Dining Hall and Carmichael Dining Hall.
Money raised through the dinner will go to Task Force Somalia, an undergraduate−run organization created in response to the famine in East Africa, which plans to funnel the money to UNICEF in order to provide food aid to the victims of the lethal drought.
Students who head to either dining hall for their evening meal tonight will have the option of "double swiping" their IDs upon entering, which will charge the students for two meals instead of one, according to co−Chair of the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate Services Committee LiaWeintraub, a sophomore.
A donation of $2.50 per meal will go to Task Force Somalia. Students without meal plans can also donate to the cause using JumboCash, according to freshman Rebecca Dewey, co−chair of Task Force Somalia.
The Senate Services Committee last Thursday selected Task Force Somalia as the group toward which proceeds from the Cause Dinner will go, according to Committee co−Chair Jeremy Zelinger, a junior.
Based on the amount of money raised in past years, the Senate estimates that the group will raise between $1,000 and $1,200 from student donations tonight, according to Weintraub.
The event has occurred on campus once per semester since the 1970s, according to Director of Dining and Business Services Patti Klos.
"Cause Dinner creates an opportunity for a worthy organization to benefit from the generosity of Tufts students," Klos said. "It's a great opportunity for students to understand specific means by which to help the larger world."
Task Force Somalia is a newly−formed student group comprised of members of the Institute for Global Leadership and Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship, according to Dewey.
Members of Task Force Somalia will be stationed at the entrance to both dining halls tonight, advertising their cause and providing "Fast Facts" sheets about the ongoing famine, Dewey said.
Task Force Somalia is working to help provide humanitarian aid to the millions of Somali citizens whose lives have been threatened by the worst drought in East Africa in the past 60 years, she added.
"Sending aid to this region has become a very pressing issue," Dewey said. "750,000 people could die from this famine in the next twelve months, and there are already 12 million people lacking sufficient resources. Not only do you have a famine going on, but you also have many people who cannot get aid because Somalia's government is so disoriented."
In light of the government disorganization, Task Force Somalia will be working with the UN relief agency, UNICEF, to distribute the funds raised.
"UNICEF is one of the few organizations in Somalia with good access to aid," Dewey added. "They're very reliable, they can reach out to people and we felt they were the best organization to support."
The Senate received applications from 11 charity organizations this year, all hoping to be promoted at Cause Dinner, according to Weintraub. She was impressed with the pool of applicants this year.
"We had applications for groups working for causes in the Dominican Republic, Bangladesh, Cambridge and more," Weintraub said. "They were supporting a wide variety of global communities."
Zelinger agreed, noting the difficulty the committee had in selecting the winner.
"It was really hard to choose just one," he said. "We had to meet with the committee and decide which group would benefit the most from people donating the value of a meal to them."
Zelinger thinks that the Senate's selection of Task Force Somalia was the right choice.
"Out of all the groups that applied, we felt that Task Force Somalia represented the most current and pressing cause," Zelinger said. "A lot of students would recognize the importance of this cause and be willing to contribute to it."
Weintraub strongly encourages students to participate in Cause Dinner.
"It takes such little effort and makes such a difference," she said. "It will really spread awareness in the area of what's going on in Somalia right now."
