Free food and warm weather are the foundation for success of this year's non-Greek Green Key events, according to Green Key Society President JeanCarlos Bonilla '08.
"At this point people are low on DBA, so people pretty much take the free food that they can get," Bonilla said.
For the first time this year, VEG Roast, a vegetarian barbecue, will be included on the schedule, slated to take place on Saturday afternoon on the Collis porch. Later that afternoon, Collis Governing Board plans to host a barbecue, featuring a jazz trio, in the same location. Additionally, Programming Board has organized a midnight barbecue in lieu of its usual midnight breakfast on the Collis porch on Saturday. Sunday, the College will host a student-faculty brunch on the Silsby lawn.
In an effort for the Green Key Society to increase its involvement in the weekend's festivities, this year will mark the first "Rock the Block HELP Fundraiser" for Humanitarian Engineering Leadership Projects, an organization which funds projects "to improve a community's quality of life through the design and implementation of appropriate technologies that are socially conscious, environmentally aware, economically feasible and fully sustainable," according to the Thayer School website.
"It was a good idea to do something fundraising as a sort of kickoff for Green Key Weekend and a way for Green Key Society to start doing something for Green Key Weekend," Bonilla said.
The fundraiser, scheduled to take place Saturday on Webster Ave. ,will feature carnival-style games and snacks. Each activity and food item will be available for a certain number of tickets, sold by the Green Key Society. The proceeds from all ticket sales will go directly to HELP, Bonilla said.
Further integrating philanthropy into the weekend's activities, the second Lose the Shoes barefoot charity soccer tournament of the year is scheduled to take place on the Green on Saturday to raise money for Grassroots Soccer.
"[Grassroots Soccer] harnesses the power of sport in the fight against HIV/AIDS by training as health educators African professional soccer players -- national heroes -- to run an interactive, game-based HIV prevention program with at-risk adolescents in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa," Zachary Kaufman '08, the event founder, said.
Forty teams have already signed up to participate in Saturday's tournament.
"With a strong link to the [Grassroots Soccer] organization, Dartmouth is leading the national initiative," Kaufman said.
According to Bonilla, Green Key weekend is also an opportunity to appreciate the arts. An event celebrating the accomplishments of Asian-Americans in music is scheduled to take place at the Rockefeller Center on Friday. The Dartmouth Outing Club will host two film festivals, both on Friday and Saturday.
In addition, the musical "Side Show" will be performed in the Moore Theater on Saturday and the 16th annual Green Key Step Show, presented by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, will take place in Leverone Field House on Saturday night. The Handel Society Spring Concert is scheduled to take place that same evening in Spaulding Auditorium.
