Challah for Hunger will make a donation of $7,000 to Jewish World Watch to aid the victims of Darfur this evening at Hillel at UCLA.
The event, hosted by Challah for Hunger, will include a presentation by Jewish World Watch about the organization and the presenter’s firsthand experiences in Darfur.
Every Thursday evening, volunteers usually gather at Hillel at UCLA to bake challah, a type of Jewish sweet bread that is traditionally eaten at Sabbath meals, which is then sold on Friday mornings on Bruin Walk.
But instead of baking challah this Thursday evening, Challah for Hunger is hosting the event in order to make its donation.
The mission of Challah for Hunger is to raise money for the victims of genocide in Darfur, said Rachel Cooper, co-president of Challah for Hunger.
“Every Friday out on Bruin Walk, we’re promoting advocacy for the victims of genocide,” said Cooper.
All of the money that will be donated to Jewish World Watch was raised by the sale of challah the past year, said Caryn Roth, co-founder of Challah for Hunger at UCLA.
Jewish World Watch is an organization that sponsors humanitarian projects that aid the victims in the refugee camps.
The organization began supporting a specific project called the Solar Cooker Project in May of 2006.
The project supports women in refugee camps, who are sent supplies to make the solar cookers, thus reducing the number of trips they would otherwise have to make outside the camp to gather materials for cooking.
Women risk getting beaten and raped by violent rebels when they venture outside to gather firewood, said Elizabeth Kraemer, a member of the executive committee of Challah for Hunger.
“In the camps that have implemented the use of solar cookers, rape has gone down by 86 percent,” Cooper said.
All of the money that Challah for Hunger is donating to Jewish World Watch will fund the Solar Cooker Project.
Jewish World Watch is a local human rights organization that was founded in 2004 by Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, after the discovery and revelation of genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
Janice Kamenir-Reznik, founding president, and Tzivia Schwartz-Getzug, executive director of Jewish World Watch, are set to be at Hillel to accept the donation.
They will also give a presentation on Darfur and explain their efforts to aid the victims.
Challah for Hunger was originally founded by Eli Winkelman at Scripps College. Winkelman enjoyed baking challah, saw that there was a demand for it on the campus, and decided to take advantage of it, Roth said.
The genocide in Darfur is an issue that Winkelman thought was important.
“There’s a million different causes but it’s something going on now that’s tragic,” Roth said.
Roth, with Alisa Malki, heard about Challah for Hunger their freshman year and decided to start a chapter at UCLA.
Different chapters of Challah for Hunger at other universities do not donate to Jewish World Watch particularly, but they do donate to organizations that aid the victims of genocide in Darfur, Roth said.
“(Challah) is something delicious to raise money for a great cause,” Roth said.