Group Aims to Raise Thousands During All-Nighter for Haiti Event on Friday, Oct. 16 at Kendall Campus
MIAMI – An initiative to fight hunger and poverty in Haiti has spurred more than a 150 Miami Dade College (MDC) students to organize an “All-Nighter For Haiti” fundraising event beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16 until 7 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 at the Kendall Campus. Student organizers have rallied the college and local community to spend the night on the Kendall Campus in an overnight relief effort to raise awareness and funds for disadvantaged families in Haiti.
The event is a partnership with Food For The Poor (FFTP), an international charity organization based in South Florida. It is also the largest relief organization for Latin America and the Caribbean. The “All-Nighter For Haiti” fundraiser was inspired by five MDC students who made it their mission to help and increase awareness in the global community. With Haiti’s close proximity to South Florida and its current food crisis, the students settled on the country hoping to garner as much support from the community as possible.
The proceeds from Thursday’s event – including the $6,000 already collected – will help support some of Haiti’s self-sustaining projects such as tilapia farms, fruit tree plantations, and to maintain a feeding program within Cite Soleil. To raise funds ahead of Thursday’s event, students held garage and weekly bake sales. MDC students and faculty participating in next week’s event hope to raise at least $20,000 for these anti-poverty projects in Haiti. Organizers for the event are also collecting used prescription eyeglasses to send to Haiti and other countries in need.
“The purpose of the all-night event is to celebrate Haitian culture, raise awareness, and monetary donations for disadvantaged families in Haiti,” said Stuart Williams, an MDC faculty member who worked closely with the students who spearheaded the project. “The funds we raise will be used to help foster sustainable development initiatives in the country, which hopefully will help steer its people toward increased autonomy.”
To date, “All-Nighter” student organizers have built a team of more than 150 student team leaders and more than 200 actively enrolled students who will volunteer during the event. Additionally, the College’s Center for Community Involvement has incorporated the fundraising project into a service-learning activity, which has been connected to several courses.
“It is a very exciting and inspiring project, and the students who are organizing it are amazing,” added Williams.
The original “All-Nighter For The Poor” initiative was started by FFTP as part of a World Food Day commemoration this past summer. In addition to FFTP, local businesses have offered to participate in Friday’s event. Panda Express in Kendall has been contributing 20 percent of its Thursday evening sales to the “All-Nighter” and will continue to do so until October 16th. Additionally, Starbucks on Bird Road and 144th Ave will be in attendance to serve food and beverages as well as donate all of its proceeds to the event.
