Temporary tattoos, a photo booth, a bake sale, door prizes and Raising Cane’s will be a few of the many features of Plaza Palooza Friday.
Plaza Palooza, hosted by Freshman Leaders Advancing in Service and Honor, or FLASH, will start at 3:00 p.m. and aims to give students an opportunity to have fun while giving back to the community. Attractions at the event include door prizes donated by local businesses, food donated by Raising Cane’s, temporary tattoos, a photo booth, bake sale, live music starting at 5:00 p.m. and the opportunity to learn more about Twin City Mission.
Proceeds from Plaza Palooza will go to Twin City Mission, a nonprofit organization that serves people in need and to help with domestic and dating violence in seven counties in the Brazos Valley area. Twin City Mission director of community relations Ron Crozier said the goal at events like Plaza Palooza is to raise public awareness of the help provided by Twin City Mission.
“You may not need help from any of our programs, but you may have a friend whose sister is in an abusive relationship, or you may go to church with a couple who are having problems financially making ends meet and are looking for any type of help,” Crozier said. “The more we can arm you with this information and then you share it within your circle of influence, then the greater opportunity we have of reaching those people that need help.”
Political science sophomore and FLASH mentor Zach Huebschman said Plaza Palooza parallels FLASH’s purpose.
“One of the big aspects of FLASH is being able to give back to our community and help out around Bryan and College Station,” Huebschman said. “This event gives us the chance to raise a lot of money and do that.”
Plaza Palooza tickets are $5 and come with three chicken tenders, a dessert from the bake sale, water, access to all games and tickets to enter for a chance to win door prizes. Huebschman said the most important thing a $5 ticket purchases is meals for those who truly need help.
“On the national average it is about $1.20 to feed someone a meal, so one $5 ticket will actually be able to feed about three to four other people,” Huebschman said.
FLASH chose Twin City Mission to benefit from this event for many reasons, including the fact that giving to Twin City Mission allows FLASH return the favor to the community that houses Texas A&M, said FLASH member Alex Arboleda.
“Other philanthropy organizations like Greek life or other similar organizations usually have to travel to Austin, Dallas or Houston to actually go to the Ronald McDonald’s House,” Arboleda said. “The fact that we actually have something here that we can actually be connected to, and not have to travel far and still actually make a difference is what makes this even unique.”
