Faces for FACES, "a masquerade-themed, semi-formal event" hosted by the Longwood University Honors College to raise money for the Farmville Area Food Bank, will be held in Lankford Student Union from 8 p.m.-12 a.m. on Oct. 14. Organized by Honors Student Association President Haley Vest, the event is open to the entire campus and free of charge. As stated on its Facebook event page, the aim of Faces for FACES is to "collect as many items of non-perishable goods (cereal, pasta, canned goods, crackers, chips, snacks, etc.) as possible." The Facebook page goes on to list reasons to attend as "Free food … we will have lots of really great free food (think red velvet cupcakes, chocolate fountains, cheeses, fresh fruit, and more), an awesome time — we will have a DJ from WMLU playing fun music for us to all hang out and dance to! … a masquerade mask making station and a photo station for you to take pictures of you and your friends all dressed up, Dress up — attire is semi-formal (think cocktail dresses, ladies!) … Everyone is welcome … andmaking a difference!… the food that we collect on Oct. 14 will make a huge and direct difference for the people that we share our town with." The event's instructions are likewise simple stating "all you need to do is stop by the Student Union on Oct. 14 between 8 and 10 p.m. with two non-perishable goods, and ready to hang out and have a great time."
Haley Vest ( is listed as contact at her email (haley.vest@live.longwood.edu) along with FACES at "their website http://www.facesfoodpantry.org/index.htm." Such thought and the combination of simple communication and light-hearted fun grant "Faces for FACES" a special place in Longwood's schedule of upcoming events and write another page in this chapter of Longwood's widespread benefits to the Farmville Area Food bank.
To further explain the particulars of the event, Haley Vest was available to speak about various parts of the up coming event. When asked to describe the event, Haley said, along with information rendered on the page, "We'll have crafts and music and dancing and all that provided. But the whole idea is to raise funds and also food for the food bank. And also bring awareness of the hunger that the Farmville community experiences … It creates a social atmosphere where people can hear about a really serious issue. So it's nice that we can bring the two together in a non-classroom setting. "
Vest said, "I've worked with FACES and Dr. Jeffery Orth, who is our contact with the Farmville area Food Bank. And also, the other executive members of the Honors Student Association Executive Board have been helping me to plan this. "Vest added, "This is the first time we've had this event. The Honors College has had small formal social events. This is the first time we're opening it up for a cause and for the whole school. So I think we'll have a really good turn out. I think it's great that we broaden that."
When asked if there was anything someone not involved in the Honors College could do, Vest said, "Absolutely. FACES takes volunteers every Saturday morning at 7a.m. We always need people to pass out canned goods to the citizens of Farmville and also donate monetarily … .Right now they have a huge need for plastic bags, so if anyone wants to help the organization, they can collect plastic grocery bags and give them to … a representative of FACES. It'd be doing them a great service. "
Finally, Vest was questioned as to what she thought of her project and said, "I'm really, really excited. The Honors college has been, in the past, a small, relatively unknown organization on campus. I think this is going to be a great opportunity to not only be willing to help out, but show the campus what we as an organization are willing to do."
With this in mind, the campus should be willing to understand both the event and the Honors college's involvement and support it in any way that they can. As a strong example of citizen leadership and creativity fused into one, the event and its organizers are simply waiting for acceptance as we struggle to accept the problems it combats.
