Anteater's Ball caps off fund-raising to build $53,000 schoolhouse in Africa
Janel Shoun |
Students' donation will be largest to One Life Revolution in Tennessee
When you think of fund-raisers held by college students, neon-colored T-shirts and bake sales may come to mind, but not the kind of commitment required to fund the construction of an entire school for African AIDS orphans.
But at Lipscomb University, the student body is on the cusp of doing just that.
The Anteater’s Ball, a musical variety show, held at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 30, in Lipscomb’s Collins Alumni Auditorium, is expected to be the last fund-raiser needed to top off the students’ goal to raise $53,000 to build a schoolhouse in Zambia. Cost to attend is a suggested donation of at least $5, and the event is open to the public.
The total now stands at $42,768. The school will be built through One Life Revolution, a national program established by World Vision and Youth Specialties in 2002 to motivate teens and young adults to combat HIV & AIDS in Africa through education and motivational resources. Once completed, Lipscomb's donation will be the largest donation given to the One Life Revolution project from a Tennessee group.
“Almost every club on campus has helped contribute to the numerous events Lipscomb has hosted,” said Matt Williams, Student Government Association president who has been involved in the effort since the beginning. “Coordinating many of the events and working with Alpha Phi Chi during the fund-raisers has shown me how much our generation can really do to alleviate suffering in the world.”
Alpha Phi Chi is Lipscomb’s service club for men and the coordinator of the Anteater’s Ball, featuring a variety of music from contemporary Christian to punk rock, worship hymns to country ballads and ‘80’s pop to STOMP-style drum lines.
The club took the lead on raising the total amount for a three-room school, two teachers houses and latrine facilities after learning about the opportunity in 2003 from Jeff Fincher, director of student missions and a former Lipscomb student who was actively involved in mission trips in the mid 1990s.
“I started talking to the guys in the service club, because I became their sponsor, and they got really excited. They just jumped all over it,” Fincher said.
Three years later, the Lipscomb students have used their share of T-shirts and bake sales to raise money, but they also coordinated an on-campus concert by Christian rock band Jars of Clay, a program to encourage everyone on campus to contribute $1 on one day, a 5-K race and the annual Anteater’s Ball, which has raised more than $13,000 all on its own.
The Student Government Association has been involved and practically all of Lipscomb’s social clubs (not part of the traditional Greek system) have held numerous events from mud volleyball to a car wash competition.
In addition, Lipscomb students have not limited their involvement to sales in the suburbs. A group of Lipscomb students traveled to Zambia two years ago for a month to learn about the needs of the area and see the poverty-stricken lifestyle first-hand. Fincher is working to send another group of students this year to work with One Life Revolution and World Vision aid workers in Zambia.
World AIDS Day is scheduled for Dec. 1, the day after the Anteater’s Ball, making the show a great opportunity to show your support for the victims of the worldwide epidemic of AIDS, which kills 6,000 people a day in Africa.
According to information from One Life Revolution, 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and by 2010, an estimated 20.2 million children worldwide will have lost a parent to AIDS.
“I am hopeful that those graduating from Lipscomb and other universities this year will take it upon themselves to see where they can help bring justice and hope to suffering parts of the world,” Williams said. “I know that the construction of this school will be just a small taste of the things yet to come from those soon to graduate from Lipscomb.”