Amidst the holiday season, Students of Caribbean Aware­ness (SOCA) plan to deliver an event to give Pace students something extra to be thankful for: the annual Thanksgiving Ex­travaganza.

One of SOCA’s highlight events brought on to campus, the Thanksgiving Extravaganza will take place Monday, Nov. 25, at 9:30 pm in Wilcox Gym.

Thanksgiving Extravagan­za has been an event held over the past five years at Pace. The purpose of this event is to bring the Pace community together through food and entertainment, as well as to raise money for Au­tism Speaks and allow students to find out more about SOCA.

“When I first came here, I thought that the Pace community was very close, but as the years went on it became more cliquish and everyone became more sep­arated.” SOCA vice-president and senior secondary education major Judith Destrade said. “So that is why this event is a great way for people to come together, say what they are thankful for, and meet a whole bunch of dif­ferent people.”

Destrade hopes to have a large turnout this year and to raise money for Autism Speaks, an organization which SOCA is working with for the first time. Autism Speaks is the world’s leading autism science and advo­cacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Half of the proceeds from Thanksgiving Extravagan­za will go to the charity.

“I think it is important for us to donate to worthy causes because it is a real part of life,” alternate senator of SOCA and senior applied psychology ma­jor Alicia Thompson said. “At school we are having fun and fo­cusing on our studies, but there are people here who are affected with autism and other disabili­ties, so we should not marginal­ize them and forget about it. So why not contribute to a cause, because these organizations work off of money. Why not sup­port those who need support?”

Thompson also sees the Thanksgiving Extravaganza event as a way to not only raise money for the charity, but to also bring awareness to the topic and create a larger forum for students on the subject.

“It is just a good atmosphere too,” Thompson said. “We are a family at Pace. We might not know each other personally but we are essentially a community. It’s a nice way to start off the holidays.”

SOCA plans to showcase unity and culture through co­sponsoring with different organi­zations such as NPHC, DHOSA, and the 808s.

“It feels good that we are bringing people together; espe­cially during a time to realize what you have and be thankful for it, and getting the chance to be with people that you care about, ” SOCA secretary and psychology major Melissa Adol­phe said. “It has a very home-like type of feel.”

Celebrating the thanksgiving spirit, students have a chance to eat a wide variety of foods as well as the traditional thanksgiv­ing meal.

“During a time when meal cards are low; the highlight of this event is food. We don’t want to stray away from the tradition­ally food students usually have, but we also plan to have all types of chicken, peas, rice, Indian cui­sine, Spanish food, a variety of desserts and different types of drinks,” senator and senior mar­keting major Winnie Tyson said, who looks most forward to see­ing the Pace community come together and bond.

Although preparation for the event can be difficult, SOCA aims to deliver entertainment and showcase campus unity.

“We want everyone to come regardless of race, creed, or reli­gion,” Thompson said. “We want you to come and enjoy yourself; we want to show a unified front. I hope everyone leaves with a feeling of contentment.”

Admission for the event is four dollars and students can sign up via Eventbrite. Students can sign up on the SDCA website under the upcoming events reg­istration. Students interested in SOCA can learn more by attend­ing the organizations meeting on Mondays at 9:15 pm in the com­muter lounge.