Flaherty Hall, one of Notre Dame’s newest dorms, is excited to establish itself this year as a dorm focused on outreach in the community. One way the residents of Flaherty are demonstrating their dorm’s focus is through their new signature event, Flaherty Fair, which will take place Friday from 6-8 p.m. on the first floor of Flaherty.
Sophomore Katie Scherzinger, one of the event commissioners, said the inspiration for the event came from a desire to draw people to Flaherty, particularly since Pangborn Hall — where most Flaherty residents used to live — didn’t have large signature events.
“It’s a new dorm, new year and we didn’t have any events — except we wanted to keep Pangborn’s tradition of Project Pumpkin Pie, which takes place around Thanksgiving,” she said. “This event came from a year of brainstorming what we could do to get Flaherty involved with charities in the community and get Flaherty as a community [and] as a dorm involved in dorm life.”
Sophomore Laura Migliore, a member of the event’s publicity committee, said students can pay $5 to eat from a nacho bar and an ice cream bar at the event, and all proceeds will go to the Robinson Community Learning Center.
“As a new dorm, we’re excited about this being a signature event because we really want to establish ourselves as committed to serving others,” she said. “I think there’s a general consensus in Flaherty that serving others brings out the best in individuals.”
Flaherty is also building its reputation as a community-focused dorm with other service events, including an upcoming Habit for Humanity build and its prison libraries book drive, but chose to focus on benefitting The Robinson Community Learning Center — an off-campus Notre Dame initiative that enrolls over 600 participants each week and 8,000 youth per year in its learning programs, according to the Center’s website — with the event due to its connection to the University, Scherzinger said.
“Robinson Community Learning Center is a group that a lot of people are involved in or working with, so it’s definitely close to home for Notre Dame,” she said.
In addition to providing an opportunity for Flaherty residents to perform community outreach, the Fair is a chance for Flaherty residents to build their own Flaherty community by helping with the event by serving ice cream and nachos and working on table tents and banners, Scherzinger said.
“It’s a way to meet people in the dorm and work with girls in the dorm,” she said. “For those who responded, I think it’s a really fun experience.”
The coordinators already have high hopes that next year’s Flaherty Fair will be even bigger than this year’s, Migliore said.
“Because it’s our first year, we’re starting small, but I think in the future, it will be bigger and more fun,” she said. “I’m thinking a pie throw next year.”
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