Students raise thousands for UNICEF
Students raised money for VCU’s chapter of UNICEF on Friday, Nov. 1 during the second annual Spotlight Banquet on Gender Inequality in the Student Commons Ballroom.
Sarah King
Contributing Writer
Students raised money for VCU’s chapter of UNICEF on Friday, Nov. 1 during the second annual Spotlight Banquet on Gender Inequality in the Student Commons Ballroom.
The banquet included a keynote speech on Global Citizenship by UNICEF representative Aarti Singh, student presentations on gender inequality in East Asia and India, a three course meal and performances by the Vietnamese Student Association and Ricochet Raas.
“I think gender inequality is an issue that needs to be discussed and I’m really excited to see that VCU is addressing such a prevalent issue in society,” said computer science major Melissa Nierlie. “I’m definitely considering joining the organization after this event.”
Tickets for the event were $10 and could be purchased online or in person. All proceeds went to UNICEF and the event raised about $2,400, according to president Sahil Aggarwal. Raffle tickets could also be purchased at the event and prizes included several packages worth thousands of dollars.
“A lot of the things UNICEF stands for are things I’m passionate about which is why I came out tonight and also joined the VCU chapter,” said Marwa Eltair a sociology major and member of the VCU chapter of UNICEF. “I think a lot of people forget that things like this are happening, but we live in an interconnected world; it’s not like Americans have their own planet.”
The VCU chapter of UNICEF was established in Spring 2012. VCU was awarded organization of the year out of more than 100 UNICEF chapters nationwide during the UNICEF Campus Summit in October.
