FSA to hold fundraiser lunch for mudslide victims

The Filipino Student Association, with help from the Asian Culture Center and Filipinos of the Bloomington community, is sponsoring a luncheon from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Siam House restaurant to benefit victims of the recent mudslide in the Philippines.\nThe luncheon will raise money for the nonprofit organization Gawad Kalinga, which means, "to give care," and strives to find "alternative solution to the blatant problem of poverty," according to its Web site, www.gawadkalinga.org.\nGawad Kalinga has recently been very active to help the rehabilitation of the island Leyte in the Philippines after a mudslide killed 1,500 to 2,500 people in February, according to a press release.\nMelanie Castillo-Cullather, director of the Asian Culture Center who is helping to coordinate the luncheon, said her group is helping support the FSA.\n"The Asian Culture Center's involvement is providing support to the Filipino Student Association in their efforts to raise funds for the mudslide victims," Castillo-Cullather said.\nThe lunch will include "traditional Filipino dishes such as chicken adobo, beef kare-kare, vegetable lumpia, menudo, arroz caldo soup, monggo soup, pinakbet, pancit noodles and Filipino desserts," Castillo-Cullather said.\nIU students can eat for $12 with their student ID, and nonstudents will be charged $15. The Siam House will donate all money collected during the four-hour period, Castillo-Cullather said.\nLaurie Antolovic, a member of the Filipino community and an IU employee, came up with the idea for the luncheon after the mudslide devastated Leyte.\n"A couple of days after the mudslide, I suggested the idea of a fund-raising event to the director of the Asian Culture Center, Ms. Melanie Castillo-Cullather," Antolovic said. "Since then, the center and the Filipino Student Association have done a magnificent job of being the leaders in organizing this event."\nJeff Capati, vice president of internal affairs for the FSA, said the three groups planning the event had no problem recruiting volunteers to help.\n"We had three times as many people offering to volunteer than we needed, which just shows how important this event is to everyone," Capati said.\nThis event will be just one of many to help raise money for the mudslide victims, Capati said.\n"(FSA, ACC and Filipinos of the Bloomington community) thought that this would be the most effective way to raise money," Capati said. "We tried to organize this entire event as soon as we could, so that we could have a greater response while the tragedy of the mudslide is still fresh in everyone's mind."\nMedy Alfonso, the FSA adviser, said the three groups don't have a particular goal for the luncheon but anticipate generous donations from the Bloomington community.\n"I strongly believe that there will be more people going to attend who are so generous to give us donations as well," Alfonso said.\nCapati said the luncheon will also serve as a reminder to the Bloomington community about the other disasters that have plagued the opposite side of the world.\n"I personally not only want to raise money in response to the mudslide, but also have this event serve as a reminder of what happened to the village of Guinsaugon," Capati said. "Many people tend to forget about what happened"