Funk for a Cause: @ Funk n’ Waffles, Saturday, April 5 at 8 pm!

Hi Honors Community,

Honors students Darcy Cherlin and Alison Joy will host a fundraiser event to aid Karen refugees in Syracuse and Thailand. The event will be held at Funk n’ Waffles on Saturday, April 5 at 8 p.m.

The following is quoted from their press release:

Guests are invited to bring articles of clothing to donate to the Karen refugee population in Syracuse. Each clothing item will discount the admission price by $1, with five articles of clothing allowing guests to enter for FREE.

The Karen are an ethnic group from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), a nation that has been plagued by civil war since gaining its independence from Great Britain in 1948. To escape rape, torture and forced labor, the Karen fled across Myanmar’s border to Thailand. Today, the Karen live in nine refugee camps on the border, jungles in Thailand and countries like Australia, Canada and the United States. Syracuse is currently home to approximately 700 Karen refugees.

Funds raised at the event will help provide medical accessibility to Karen refugees living in the jungles of Thailand.

Cherlin developed an interest in the Karen refugee community while tutoring Karen children in a Syracuse public school. Since then, she has conducted research identifying the challenges Karen face accessing health care in Syracuse, Australia and Thailand as part of her honors capstone.

Cherlin is a senior at Syracuse University studying Medical Anthropology. Joy is also a senior with majors in Television, Radio and Film and Italian. The two friends worked together in 2013 to organize an arts gala as part of Syracuse University’s Remembrance Week.

The fundraiser will also feature local music and comedy acts. Singer, songwriter and guitarist Jeff York will perform with Professor Zeke Leonard, and student comedy group Best Restaurant In Town will round out the night with plenty of laughs.