The Cardinal Chocolate Gala

Abstract

While seventy percent of the world's cocoa is grown in Africa, most of the economic benefits of the cocoa value chain are not received within the continent. Cocoa farmers are experiencing exploitation by middle-men purchasers, lower crop yields, higher government taxes and increasingly outdated equipment. Project Hope and Fairness is a non-profit organization working to aid African cocoa farmers. The Cardinal Chocolate Gala was a student-run fundraising dinner to raise money for this organization. Four classes of the Hospitality and Food Management program collaborated in an immersive learning opportunity that resulted in the Gala. The purpose of this event was to (1) showcase the students in the Hospitality and Food Management Program through experiential learning; and (2) bring campus and community awareness to the African cocoa farmers' conditions and Ball State's future plans of engaging students in a research center in Cameroon to study cocoa. I served as the student project organizer for this event, as well as the liaison between the four HFM classes, steering committee and University Catering. To document these processes, I have given a detailed summary of the process, along with examples of the planning documents and the Fundraising Dinner Manual (Appendix Q).