On Sunday, Feb. 24, Grand Valley State University’s Students for Haiti organization will host an event to raise funds for the Empowering Haiti through Education Scholarship Fund.

The Empowering Haiti through Education Fund “exists solely to support ‘rising stars’ from Haitian high schools, who, without financial support, would not be able to realize their potential and pursue higher education in the U.S.,” according to the Students for Haiti website. The fund helps these students attend GVSU and eventually return to Haiti to “further the nation’s development.” The fund was set up in 2011, a year after Haiti was devastated by an earthquake.

The event will be held in The Connection, and will be a “dinner and music night,” said Cathie Jean, president of Students for Haiti.

“We are working with Campus Dining and Chez Olga’s Haitian restaurant in Grand Rapids to put on a Haitian dinner and music night at the GVSU Connection,” Jean said. “Olga will be working with the chef from the Connection to prepare Haitian chicken in red sauce, red beans and rice, fried plantains, Haitian Cole slaw, and a Caribbean vegetable.”

Approximately three dollars from each $10 ticket sold will go toward the club and the scholarship, Jean said, and student meal plans may be used to purchase the meal.

There will be music at the event, and if students aren’t interested in the meal they are still welcome to come and enjoy the performance, Jean said.

There will be a giving box at the event for patrons to donate to, which the club will use to make a donation to the scholarship fund along with proceeds from the meal tickets.

The event and the Students for Haiti organization are meant not only to raise money for this fund, but to “raise awareness about Haiti, Haitian people, and Haitian culture,” Jean said.

The group hopes to “raise awareness about Haiti’s current plight,” and to spread the word that Haiti was suffering before the 2010 earthquake struck.

The Students for Haiti event will be held Feb. 24 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Students can purchase tickets for $10 by contacting Professor Peter Wampler at [email protected].

For more information, visit www.gvsu.edu/haiti.
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