Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Buy a date for charity

By on March 2, 2007

Need a date Friday night? Date Extravaganza not only provides a date to the highest bidder, but also donates to a charity. Proceeds from the event will go to My House, an organization offering treatment to sick and abandoned children.

Last year’s date auction allowed the University’s chapter of the Foundation for Medical Relief of Children to put on a festival full of ponies, moonwalks, crafts, games and food. They also donated just under $1,000 to My House.

DATE EXTRAVAGANZA

When: 7 tonight
Where: The Ritz
Price: $2 donation that enters you to win $800 worth of door prizes.

Although date auctions seem like fun and games, they no longer are allowed through the Department of Intercultural Affairs because of the controversial slave-like nature of the events.

To take the stamp off fundraising, the event’s new, less intimidating name is “Date Extravaganza.”

“We are dedicated to helping provide access to medical care for millions of underprivileged and medically underserved children around the world,” said Lauren Vigil, a junior from Atlanta and president of the University chapter of FIMRC, an international nonprofit organization.

Bidders should expect entertainment including skits, poetry readings and a professional auctioneer to ask each contestant an array of embarrassing questions, giving just enough juicy information to arouse the audience.

Contestant Brent Allen, a junior biochemistry and molecular biology major from Valdosta, said, “I am participating in this event to get some laughs, hopefully get a date, but most importantly raise some money for children. Children are the only innocent people in this world, and they need as much help as we can give them.”