Friday night saw Nolan's transformed into a competition scene, with students playing trivia, participating in eating contests and singing karaoke. The Diverse Sexuality and Gender Alliance (DSAGA) hosted an event to fundraise for Moveable Feast, a non-profit that provides meals to individuals bedridden with diseases such as HIV/AIDS and different forms of cancer.
DSAGA hosted a similar event last year and is planning to start fundraising for charity annually.
"The social aspect of DSAGA is great, but it's also nice to branch out into other areas, like political issues and fundraising," DSAGA Events Coordinator and sophomore Erika Rodriguez said.
DSAGA got involved with Moveable Feast after some of their members volunteered for the organization. After working with Moveable Feast over intersession, DSAGA Director of Administrations Mariela Pinela recommended the group to the rest of the board.
"Doing alternate winter break and working with Moveable Feast reminded me how important they are in the community," Pinela said.
She explained that she reached out to the Center for Social Concern, who helped put the leaders of DSAGA in touch with the president of Moveable Feast. Senior Diego Salume, one of DSAGA's presidents, explained a little more about the rationale for choosing Moveable Feast this year.
"We decided we wanted to do something more local and relevant this year. We had also done some work with the World AIDS Alliance in the past, so that also motivated us," he said.
Rodriguez and Pinela also emphasized the desire to give back to the Baltimore community in choosing their charity. Moveable Feast is a Baltimore-based and focused organization.
DSAGA recommended a five-dollar donation to participate, but students were allowed to contribute more or less. Members said they raised more money than they anticipated, totaling nearly $322. DSAGA is matching the funds raised, so they will donate a total of $645.
According to Moveable Feast, approximately five dollars can feed a person for a day, so the money contributed by DSAGA can provide roughly 120 days of food for one of the organization's beneficiaries.
This concern for the Baltimore community is mirrored in DSAGA's focus on building inclusiveness in the Hopkins community.
"There was a good mix of members and just random other people [at Friday's event]," senior Paulina Goodman said. "It was a really good, comfortable atmosphere. Everyone there really wanted to participate and really wanted to donate."
Participants formed teams of three to compete in trivia, eating pudding and saltine crackers, and singing karaoke (all three had to join in the singing). Teams scored points for their performance in each contest and could also solicit donations by serenading spectators.
Those with the highest points could win prizes such as gift certificates to Barnes & Noble and DSAGA t-shirts.
The basic structure of the event was the same as the fundraiser last year, although some food adjustments were made. Last year featured a Chipotle burrito-eating contest in place of the pudding and crackers this year. Everyone agreed that the mess from food this year was much more manageable.
DSAGA is planning a number of other events this year, especially in April for LGBT awareness.
"Our goal is really to make our members and hopefully the entire campus feel safe and like they can be comfortable with who they are, and to promote awareness on the entire campus," Salume said.
Some of their future projects could include a Safe Zone, a program that would provide sensitivity training regarding LGBT issues to resident advisors, faculty and staff, bringing in speakers and potentially getting involved in political campaigns for LGBT issues.
