Musical aid for Mexico flood

To raise money for victims of a massive flood in Tabasco, Mexico, Dykstra Hall resident assistants will hold “Live Aid” tonight at 7 p.m. in the Tom Bradley International Student Center, with performances from five student a capella groups.

The event is free, but a $1 voluntary contribution is suggested.

Alan Lewis and Ariel Meave, two resident assistants, will serve as masters of ceremonies for the event.

The event will include performances from Bruin Harmony, Random Voices, ScatterTones, MEDleys, and Signature A Capella.

“We have our repertoire for the quarter; we’ll probably just do three or four songs from that,” said Ross Morey, music director of Bruin Harmony. “We’re really excited to use our music to support something like this. We’ll probably speak between songs a little bit.”

Lewis and Meave will read testimonies from people affected by the flood between each act, Lewis said.

“(We are) reading their experiences with the flood so that people can feel more connected to it,” Lewis said.

In addition to the five a capella acts, the rest of the night will be open-mic. All students are welcome to perform, Lewis said.

Many of the Dykstra resident assistants, the resident director, and the assistant resident director will also auction themselves off to raise money. People will be able to bid in a silent auction on one- to two-hour slots of their time for tutoring, room cleaning, cooking, art, or tennis or dance classes, Meave said.

All of the proceeds from the event will go to the American Red Cross to aid flood victims in Tabasco, providing medical supplies and shelter, Lewis said.

“Eight hundred thousand people lost their homes,” Lewis said. “When the waters recede, what’s going to happen?”

In addition to efforts to raise money, Lewis said the emphasis of the event is to teach Hill residents about relief efforts throughout the world. The American Red Cross will be present with information about aid efforts in Tabasco.

“What I feel is that everybody has the ability to organize some kind of relief; they just need the inspiration to do so,” Lewis said. “They need to see other people in action.”

Lewis originally brought up the idea for the event at a meeting with other Dykstra resident assistants, and after they began coordinating it together in the first week of November, the event took about a month to plan, he said.

Lewis said that he wanted to create a program that would expose people to more information about the disaster and give them the opportunity to help.

The Mexican flood happened at the same time as the California fires, so it did not receive much publicity, Meave said.

“It’s something that needs just as much of our help, if not more,” she said. “What seems small to us really means the world to people who have nothing left.”

All of the resident assistants on the Hill have been e-mailed, and several hundred people are expected to attend, Meave said.

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