The holiday season is the time of year when many charities create campaigns to attract volunteers and donations from local families and communities.

But the University’s Indian Student Association (ISA) has been campaigning for the international charity World Vision since the beginning of fall semester. World Vision collects school supplies to give to the world’s poorest children in nearly 100 countries across the globe, including the United States. The group’s main goals include community development, disaster relief and global issues.

Such global issues include the HIV/AIDS epidemic – an issue that was highlighted by the United States’ National AIDS Awareness Day on Dec. 1. World Vision helps to tackle this problem globally and has established an AIDS Hope Initiative of prevention and care.

World Vision aims to help people discover and use their own vision and resources to move from “abject poverty to abundant living,” according to the group’s mission statement.

Mansi Kothari, sophomore in LAS, serves as a philanthropy co-chair for the ISA and feels that this charity is especially important for the ISA to work with.

“Our president heard about this organization at the start of the year, and the whole board decided it would be a good idea to work with them,” she said.

To commemorate the life and death of Mohandas Gandhi, ISA held Gandhi Week at the beginning of the semester. The week involved a series of activities aimed at raising money for the same charity.

“At the end of the semester, all the money we raised will be sent to this one organization (World Vision),” Kothari said.

With the money they raise, the ISA hopes to sponsor a student in another country, possibly India.

On Saturday, ISA members attended the year’s last event: Casino Night. Students bought chips to play a wide range of games, including Texas Hold ’em, blackjack and rummy. The event also featured Mario Kart and Halo tournaments, which drew a large number of hopefuls.

Casino Night marked the second time in recent weeks that the ISA held an event at the Wesley Methodist Church and Foundation.

Neha Shah, sophomore in LAS, is a co-social chair for ISA. She served as a dealer at one of the card-playing tables and felt that the event was successful and for an admirable cause.

“ISA wants to bring awareness to people and give back to the kids,” she said. “Many students at the University are very privileged, and we want other youths to have the same opportunities that we have.”

Participants could enter tickets won from playing the various games into five drawings. A grand prize – the popular video game Halo 2 – was given away at the end of the night to one lucky winner. The event raised nearly $500 for World Vision.