Philanthropy Committee Hosts first Winter Formal

By James Trent

On February 1, 2018

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The SGA’s Philanthropy committee brought back the Winter Formal on Jan. 27, an event not seen on campus for some time.

The idea for a Winter Formal was a result of the SGA’s newly appointed committee, the Philanthropy Committee, cooperating with various other groups on and off campus. Haley Fields, chair of the Philanthropy Committee, says, “It was a collaboration of a bunch of people… the DJ we’re using this year DJ Dwayne had mentioned it, [Andrew] Sulgit, Sarah Fancher, [sororities and fraternities] have also talked about it… it didn’t originate with us but we definitely took it and ran with it.”

Some time ago Concord had an event similar to the Winter Formal, though the people who remember it are few. This marks the first Winter Formal Concord for the decade, and one of the goals is to raise money for the new Gap scholarship fund. The fund was created to help students whose financial aid does not quite meet their financial need, closing the gap between awarded aid and actual costs of enrollment.

Around 150 people attended the Formal in the downstairs terrace room of University Point. There was food, dancing, and prizes to be given out in a raffle. All students who attended the dance were eligible to win the available prizes. The prizes included a new iPhone X, a PlayStation 4, gift cards for various restaurants, and Concord clothes like shirts and jackets. In total the Formal raised $1000 for the new Gap fund.

The Philanthropy Committee has other plans to help the campus and community at large.

Some ideas currently being considered are helping the elderly in nursing homes, or visiting local pet shelters. “Things I’ve considered personally…” says Fields, “sponsoring adoption fees at the local animal shelter and bringing them here during finals week each semester. As a kind of way to de-stress, but also as a way for people to adopt these for free and they can get out of the shelter.”

As of the writing of this article, no other events have yet been announced from the Philanthropy Committee. The committee is open to student feedback from students says Fields. “If [they] have any suggestions there’s the boxes around campus, SGA, messaging me on Facebook, asking to be on the committee… Anything that we can do, that sounds like a good idea, we’ll definitely consider it.”