While the first floor of the Memorial Union swarmed with people, eight students tucked themselves away in a second-floor meeting room, organizing an effort to raise funds for Palestinian refugees.
“We need to hit the ground running, since we only have one semester to go [this school year], and a short one at that,” said Cameron Bean, co-president of New Global Citizens at ASU.
The group, formed this semester, has partnered with the Al-Rawwad Center, a theater and cultural center for children of the Aida Refugee Camp, just outside of Bethlehem in Palestine’s West Bank.
The center provides nonviolent creative outlets for refugee children like painting workshops, theater performances and physical activities, said Bean and co-president Chris Doran, during a presentation at the group’s first meeting on Monday evening.
Doran, a philosophy and criminal justice freshman, said the group hopes to raise at least $2,500 this semester through a large number of small donations.
“We have high hopes for this year,” he said. The group is still optimistic, despite being pressed for time by the looming approach of the end of the school year, he said.
The funding provided by New Global Citizens will be used for art supplies, theater and sports equipment, and for Al-Rawwad Center to begin taking the children’s theater shows on tour to raise awareness for the refugees, Bean said.
The first fundraising effort by New Global Citizens at ASU this semester will be a screening of a Palestinian film on Feb. 25, with an optional donation admission fee, Bean said.
Group meetings will be held every Monday at 5 p.m. in the Pinal Room on the second floor of the Memorial Union, Bean said. Students can also find out more about future events and how to donate to Al-Rawwad theater directly by contacting the group at ngcasu@gmail.com.
The center also plans to expand its efforts throughout the West Bank and reach children in other Palestinian refugee camps.
The local effort to raise awareness and funds for the Al-Rawwad Center is important not only to help the refugee children cope with their situation, but also to educate those in America about the severity of the conflict, Arab Student Association president Amirah Ismail said.
“[These children] need even the simple things —they don’t even have a park [where they can] play,” Ismail said. “They have to worry about gunshots on their way to school.”
Ismail, a global studies and justice studies senior who is involved with ASU’s Muslim Student Association and Students for Justice in Palestine, and said the groups will assist in fundraising by combining the efforts to form a coalition of organizations.
Bean said cooperation with other organizations and with the community, plays a major role in the fundraising efforts of New Global Citizens.
“We just have to be creative, and think of new ways to forge new partnerships, and raise funds,” he said.
Reach the reporter at trabens@asu.edu.
