Seton Hall’s Veggie Society has announced that they will host an environmentally friendly tricky tray fundraiser on March 11 at 7:00 p.m. in the University Center main lounge to raise money to aid relief efforts for the Australian wildfire epidemic.
A tricky tray is an event where participants buy tickets in exchange for the opportunity to win prize baskets of their choice for charitable causes.
The Australian wildfires, caused by climate change, have proven to be destructive to the country’s people and environment. It is estimated that 25 people and over one billion animals have died as a result of the fires. Approximately, 6.3 million hectares of land has been burned down. The money raised from the event will go toward the GlobalGiving Australia Wildfires Relief Fund.
The purpose of the Veggie Society’s event is to educate students about how animal welfare and environmental tragedies are interconnected. Veggie Society president, Annabelle Dunn, a sophomore philosophy major, commented on the purpose behind the event.
“We’re trying to shed light on how a lot of natural disasters are greatly contributed to by animal agriculture,” Dunn said. “There were the Bush fires in the Amazon [that] were result of controlled burns by factory farmers. For instance, people who farm cows. For Australian bush fires we wanted to charitable and help the relief efforts. We also want to bring awareness to the role that animal agriculture plays in environmental disasters like this.”
There will be a PowerPoint presentation at the fundraiser detailing the correlation between the Australian wildfires to the detrimental environmental effects of the animal agriculture industry.
She further explained the club’s advocacy for animal rights saying “the Veggie Society promotes animal welfare… Our [human’s and animal’s] capacity to suffer emotionally and physically…to experience [pain] is the same.”
The Veggie Society will be collaborating with a multitude of Seton Hall organizations to provide prize baskets. Currently, Habitat for Humanity, Lambda Tau Omega sorority, CommArts Graduate Student Association, MENAC (Middle East North African Club) and the Muslim Student Association will donate baskets. In addition, vegan and cruelty free business, Amethyst Hair Studio, will be contributing a prize basket. The club is still looking for more organizations to collaborate with through mid- February. All prize baskets will be vegan and cruelty free.
The event will be catered by Gourmet Dining Services. The food will be plant-based, which promotes their agenda to support animal welfare. The prices of tickets have not been confirmed, but Dunn said that they will most likely be around $1.
“I believe that any contribution is a necessary one,” Sarah Chodnicki, a freshman majoring in social work and Spanish, said. “It’s important to advocate for worldwide issues. By doing this they [Veggie Society] are not only raising money but raising awareness and hopefully will get other students involved…to donate [to Australian wildfires relief efforts] personally.”
Another student, Andrew Cates, a senior triple majoring in art, theatre and music commented as well.
“These kinds of fundraisers are always pretty great, people like ticketed ones like that,” Cates said. “At a cheaper price, it encourages wide participation. It also is within the realm of conservation at some level, which lines up with the view of the Veggie Society.”
Amanda DeJesus can be reached at amanda.dejesus@student.shu.edu.
