Colombo School of Arts & Sciences to hold Food Fest tomorrow to help differently abled

The kids of Colombo School of Arts and Sciences (CSA) have taken on an ambitious project this year to raise funds for a worthy cause. They are planning a street food festival and it will be a challenging one for all of them, from planning to execution, as it’s all done by the students of the school. 

“It was a collective decision after much discussion and all the students were most enthusiastic about supporting differently abled children. As always we have made a major commitment in terms of the social service project undertaken, but the satisfaction to be gained in knowing that a significant contribution was made to better the lives of the differently abled will make the challenge worthwhile for our students,” says Shaleeka Jayalath, Principal of the School.

For the students this has been an exciting period of planning and going out to meet people and actually seeing whether this was a workable project. There are five teams who are divided into marketing, logistics, getting sponsorships, tickets sales and the sale of stalls.

‘The Food Fest organised by CSA’ will be held at Greenpath on 27 January from 4 p.m. till midnight and promises to be an evening full of fun and entertainment. The organisers say, “Come ready to push your adrenaline and endorphin levels to the sky,” especially since one of the highlights of the evening are for the Xbox warriors to come in and pit their skills against one another.

CSA students say it’s not just about the wide range of street food but the different stalls would offer a lot more on the cards, including Xbox competitions, Dunking, Photo Booths, a Bouncing Castle, a techno Dj and a performance by Umariya Sinhawansa. They have planned entertainment for all age groups at the Food Fest, proceeds of which will go towards the Sunera Foundation. CSA has made a commitment to provide funds for free therapy to 25 differently abled children at the Foundation’s Dehiwala centre. 

The school has done a number of community service projects in the past including a successful fundraising project to provide electric wheelchairs for the Leprosy hospital, a one week’s English and IT teaching program to 50 grade 6-11 students at T/Seruwawila Maha Vidyalaya and provided basic Hospitality training to Grade 12 students in Trincomalee, to skill them up for future job opportunities.

The different student groups have devised social media programs to market the event, handling all the necessary story writing, poster campaigns and other signage by themselves. They have connected with restaurants, fast food outlets and service providers, working hard during and after their school hours, to make this event a success. 

Situated on Jawatte Road, the Colombo School of Arts and Sciences is a newly established international school that focuses and specialises exclusively on the senior school study program, offering a comprehensive educational experience to students aged 14 and above.