The Houston Chronicle reported Sunday that donations for Ike victims are dwindling, but that hasn’t stopped UH students.
Generous students willing to donate canned goods, toiletries, books and toys earned points redeemable for a date with a volunteer model at the second annual Feed the Sexy event (see story, Page 1).
The drive was held to gather food and supplies for the world’s needy, while raising awareness for the cause. And what better way to raise awareness than with a provocative auction?
Both men and women could audition to be models in the event, and generous patrons could bid on whomever they liked.
The event was a creative way to tackle a serious problem, especially one college students aren’t apt to address. Most are aware of the hunger our community and the world faces, but are too busy, too apathetic or too disconnected to do anything about it. While it’s somewhat of a shame that people need to be coerced into donating goods by a hot date, the intentions are good and the outcome is even better.
The Houston Chronicle attributed the decline in donations to the poor economy, and said only $19 million has been given to the four largest relief funds. The number pales in comparison to the $135 million given after Katrina.
With the economy in the state it is in, donating is probably one of the last things on people’s minds. The Feed the Sexy event wasn’t solely for Ike victims, but addressed the global issue of hunger. To participate, models needed to have knowledge of world hunger and thoughts on how to solve it. The criteria forced students to think more seriously about the problem if they wanted to participate, and education is an important step toward a solution.
While we feel beauty shouldn’t have been such a large part of the competition, the angle worked, and many told The Daily Cougar they felt the event was a great success, perhaps even eclipsing last year’s half ton of donated goods.
The event gave students a chance to have fun while working toward a very noble goal, and we’re glad to see it was as successful, if not more, the second time around. Students stepped up and showed that in spite of economic turmoil, they could still find something to spare – or, in the case of one lucky model who went for 1,000 points, quite a few things.
