Annual Soul Food Dinner to be held

For students missing comforts and food from home, an evening at the Black Student Union's annual Soul Food dinner might just do the trick. \n"Every ethnic group has what it calls 'soul food,' which is food that brings back warm memories of family dinners," said Reggie Ingram, the publicity chair for the group. "The BSU will talk about where the concept of soul food came from and its tradition." \nEvent-goers will do more than just talk about the food; they will make it and eat it too. Students will prepare the meal themselves with the supervision of Ambrosia Catering, said the organization's president, D'Anna Wade. The menu will include chicken, honey ham, smoked turkey, homemade baked macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, corn, dressing, cakes, fruit salad, corn bread, tea and rolls. \n"This is an occasion to bring us all together to socialize in a comfortable environment with soul food," Wade said. "It's not based on anything in particular, but we are bringing the cultural tradition of eating soul food to the Bloomington campus." \nThe dinner will do more than just feed hungry mouths. All monetary proceeds will go to the Alvin Henry Memorial Scholarship, a fund named in honor of the former Black Student Union member and residential assistant who was killed in a car crash earlier this year. Attendees are also encouraged to bring canned goods to donate to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, which will distribute the cans locally. \nAnyone can come to the event, Wade said, but it is mainly geared toward black students. It will be held Sunday evening from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. The cost for the event is $2 for Black Student Union members, $3 for nonmembers who bring at least one canned good and $4 for those without canned goods.