On Wednesday, March 11, student association Off-Screen hosted their second charity gala, organized by their very own Acquisition Committee. The event was dedicated to Oasebos, an organization that works for the maintenance of forests and wildlife in Costa Rica.
After a friendly welcome from the hosts, guests at the gala spent their evening enjoying the beautiful view at HoogtIJ where the gala took place. Throughout the evening, drinks and lottery tickets were sold, the proceeds of which would be donated to Oasebos.
Oasebos Chairman Peter Mols gave a presentation where he explained how the organization aims to achieve its goals, and where the donated money would be invested. He stated that Oasebos acquires parts of land in Costa Rica in order to save it from harmful human actions such as deforestation. Mols then illustrated the regions where Oasebos maintains land and spoke about the high biodiversity that needs to be protected as the population of several animals such as jaguars, is decreasing. Mols also explained that Oasebos does not simply buy the land; the organization makes sure that it is properly maintained. For example, in April, the Oasebos plans to travel to South America to survey the damages caused to the forest by hurricanes.
Faas Wijn (20), Off-Screen board member and head of the Acquisition Committee, explained why Off-Screen considered Oasebos a perfect fit for this gala: “We decided to put Oasebos in the spotlight this year because we felt that – in light of the fires in Australia – this is a charity that really has something to do with contemporary issues like climate change”.
At the end of the night, the committee proudly announced that €1720 had been raised. Oasebos volunteer Sander Grootendorst gratefully accepted the donation in the organization’s name,
concluding with the sentiment that, “every kind of involvement is awesome, but I still am overwhelmed by the amount the gala raised.”
Aside from the lottery which offered more than 40 sponsored prizes, the true highlight of the night was the auction. Along with the sponsored items such as tickets from the club Paradiso, six students contributed their own works of art. Some of the works were auctioned off for over €100. One such piece was a photograph taken Bisera Stojchevska (18), a 1st-year media student at the UvA. Stojchevska offered up photos from her own exhibition for the auction, one of which was sold very quickly for €45. She stated that ever since she learned more about politics and sustainability in high school, she decided to get involved in these issues. She considers the destruction of rainforests an important topic and even went on to mention that, “I reduced my consumption when it comes to palm oil-based products, but besides that, I do not really know how to reach people. So, when I heard about this Gala for Oasebos, I was really passionate about it and I already knew that I wanted to give something to it.”
Similar to the charity gala, Off-Screen also hosts educational talks and events regarding pressing contemporary topics, aside from the usual student trips and parties.