Kiss-a-thon to raise animal awareness

Public displays of affection are a social faux pas on most occasions, but IU’s student organization Revitalizing Animal Well-Being is encouraging students to spread the love during its “Sealed with a Kiss” Kissing Marathon. 

The second annual event is taking place from 8 p.m. Friday to 1 a.m. Saturday at The Lodge on 101 E. Sixth St. as a way to raise awareness and money to end Canada’s annual baby seal hunt, according to RAW’s Web site. 

RAW’s event, which is sponsored by B97-FM, the IU Student Association and IU’s student-run Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Union, as well as numerous local donors, is hoping to build upon last year’s success.

“This is RAW’s third year as an organization, but ‘Sealed with a Kiss’ was one of our first ideas for an event,” said Kara Kendall, community outreach coordinator for RAW. “Last year was more about getting our name out there as well as introducing and spreading awareness about seal slaughter, a horrible event that happens each year. This year we have the same goals, but we are expecting more than 200 attendees, and hope to raise $1,000 or more.”

Admission for tonight’s event, which includes kissing games, live music and food, is free to singles and couples of all orientations, but a $10 to $15 donation is requested. Additionally, RAW will be selling packages of raffle tickets for $10, pizza for an additional $5 and a T-shirt plus pizza for $10 more. The raffles for the event, including $150 from Mira Salon, $100 from The Dog House and $25 from Nick’s English Hut, have all been donated by local businesses.

All proceeds from “Sealed with a Kiss” will go to the Humane Society of the United States, which is active in working against the Canadian seal hunt and even shows a countdown to “the hunt” on its Web site. 

In addition to RAW’s fundraising efforts, the organization has taken its message to the Internet in hopes of getting more people involved, Kendall said.

Aside from posting the event on its Web site, RAW has also attempted to reach the student body through e-mail and Facebook. Currently, there are 119 confirmed guests on its Facebook event page.

Kendall said she is happy about the positive response to the event.

“We created this event not only to raise money and awareness, but to also spice up animal advocacy,” Kendall said. “Some people are turned off by animal advocacy because they thought it was exclusive or negative. Hopefully this program will reverse that idea and empower them to get involved in this important cause.”