The Student Union Senate Social Justice Committee continued its fundraising for “charity: water” this week, hosting the First Annual charity: water Silent Auction and Date Dash. The event auctioned off meals with 11 students and several staff members.
The event was part of a semester-long fundraiser for Charity: Water, a non-profit organization that provides access to safe drinking water to the one in eight people on the planet who don’t have access to clean water. The Social Justice Committee’s goal is to raise $5,000, with the help of campus clubs, to build a well to serve more than 250 people in a developing country.
The Date Dash auctioned off 11 students: Bryndis Hafthorsdottir ’12, Soo Lim ’12, Faith Brigham ’10, Alanna Drasin ’13, Shana Bhattacharya ’11, Akash Vadalia ’12, Dan Gutman ’12, Sam Stemper ’13, Beau Bonness ’11, Ryan Fanning ’11 and Daniel Acheampong ’11.
“It’s a great cause, and if I can help in any way, that would be an honor,” said Brigham, who was asked by a committee member to participate.
North Quad Senator Andrea Ortega, a member of the Social Justice Committee, said that the Senate subsidized $240 for the event, part of which went towards the purchase of $20 gift cards for student dates to Margaritas, a local Mexican restaurant. The restaurant itself donated the rest of the money for the event.
Other items up for auction included lunch or dinner with staff and faculty, including President Jehuda Reinharz, Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams and Professor Harry Coiner (ECON).
“Basically, we’re pimping them out,” Ortega said with a grin, adding that since the kickoff of the fundraiser, the committee has raised at least $500 for charity: water, plus $664 at the Date Dash.
“Brandeis was founded on principles of social justice and activism, and while many of us intend to change the world later on in life, there’s nothing stopping us from changing the world now,” she said.
