Thanks-for-giving event helps out the less fortunate

The Undergraduate Student Government (USG), along with several other clubs and organizations on campus, hosted the event Thanks-for-giving.

This event was not only a way to celebrate Thanksgiving, but also a way to give back to the community.

The goal of this event was to feed 5,000 people with donations of just one dollar. One dollar will be able to feed five people, along with the help of the Food Bank.

Chike Heu, a host of the event, began by talking about hunger and asking the audience if they have ever been really hungry. Heu also went on to add that one in four New Yorkers need food assistance.

"As we go to Thanksgiving a few days from now, a lot of people will not be able to eat that day. A lot of people will be hungry as they are everyday and that is real," said Heu.

Heu emphasized that now was the time to start that change and prevent people from going hungry.

"If that change is going to start, it will start here," said Heu. "Every single dollar that we donate today, is not just a dollar, but it's seeing five people not go hungry."

He added that there would also be performances, games and a pie eating contest at the event.

"Think about it as a life you're changing now," said Heu.

USG's president Antonio Alfonso reiterated Hue's sentiments about the event, and added that it was an event that could help people in New York City and beyond.

The first performance of the evening was a poem written by Tsemaye Awani, created specifically for this event.

"The thing I gotta realize is that my life is insanely great, I think I'm entitled to all of that but I really ain't / I'm wasting food not realizing that some people ain't eat for days and they ain't trying to fast / It's magnified now that thanksgiving is almost here, but we got a lot to give thanks for every day of the year."

After the performance ended, Heu took to the stage once more, and added that last year 1.3 billion pounds of food was wasted, enough to fill the Roosevelt Stadium.

The next performer was Matt Alioto of WBMB, Baruch's radio station, who sang two songs while playing the guitar. One of them was an original written by him and his band Falling Short of Luxury.

The highlight of the event turned out to be the pie eating contest, in which six people- three females and three males, competed.

"It was a really nice idea and it seems like a lot of people are having a good time," said junior Lilian Cheng.

The women's contest started first, with excitement pouring from everyone who was in attendance. Cheers and screams filled the audience as people showed support for their favorite pie eater.

At the end of it all, Rochelle Novilla from the Sigma Alpha Delta Honors Society walked away as the winner of the women's pie eating contest.

"This is a great event and they just encouraged me to do the pie eating contest. Knowing that I did something for fun and laughs is what thanksgiving is all about," said Novilla. "I feel good about myself, even though right now it's like I ate two Big Macs in two minutes."

With the crowd getting more excited for the men's part of the pie eating contest, Nelson Martinez took off his shirt and threw it into the audience, clearly eager for the challenge that lay ahead.

Martinez was declared the winner of this event, and spurred the crowd on by asking if anyone wanted to challenge him.

He was taken up on his offer by two students who eagerly took on the challenge.

However, none could take away Martinez's great accomplishment from him. He also won that round, which took place mere minutes after the first.

"It was fun, it was a very ecstatic feeling. When it's for a good cause it feels even better. I'm glad to have participated and won," said Martinez.

The last speaker of the event was the Vice President of the Board of Directors at the Food Bank of New York City, Joel Jones.

He spoke about the Food Bank and the role that it plays.

"When is a happy meal a happy meal?" asked Jones.

He explained that homeless people and those who cannot afford food wait until stores put their garbage out and rummage through it hoping to find food. It is at this point that they've found their happy meal.

Poverty, Jones said, can be defined when there is no geographical or financial access to nutritious food.

"The Food bank is New York City's only health integrated hunger relief service. We tackle the issues of hunger on three fronts: food distribution in soup kitchens and food pantries, resources available to them such as income tax, food stamps and earned credit and helping families make informed decision on a limited budget," said Jones.

Stating some statistics about hunger in New York City, Jones added that approximately three million people have trouble affording food and soup kitchens and food pantries only provide for one out of six seniors and one out of five children.