Paly’s first winter formal is approaching along with the excitement of floor-length gowns, tuxedos, pre-dance dinners, and, oh yeah — helping aid the thousands of sick and impoverished people in Darfur, Sudan, by contributing to Doctors Without Borders.

I was excited about the dance and finding appropriate attire for a night of entertainment and fun. Then I started thinking about the cost of a dress, if I were to buy one, and the dinner beforehand with friends, and I realized I would be spending many times more money on myself and the events surrounding the dance than I was actually donating to the cause.

In many ways a winter formal and a fundraiser to stop genocide in Darfur conflict. While a winter formal is fine, and a benefit is too, I am not sure whether the two should necessarily coexist.

The idea of having a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders, or, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), to help stop genocide in Sudan preceded the idea of having a winter formal, according to Maureen McCorry, a social studies teacher at Paly and the teacher supervisor of the winter formal planning.

According to McCorry, the idea to raise money for MSF arose last year after senior Meg Gray expressed interest in planning a fundraiser for the cause after learning about the situation in Darfur in history class. Gray, along with senior Anique Drumright and junior Youth Community Service (YCS) president Caterina Yuan, came up with the idea to hold a winter formal to raise money for MSF. Since November, the three, along with other members from YCS and Paly Student Government, have met once to twice a week to discuss the logistics of the dance.

"We decided on having a formal dance because it was more attractive and we could charge more money for the tickets," McCorry said.

All of the dance proceeds will go to MSF, which on its Web site (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org) describes itself as an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters or exclusion from health care in more than 70 countries.

MSF is one of the only relief organizations supplying aid in Darfur, Sudan. The organization reports that since 2003, the conflict in Darfur, Sudan has cost thousands of lives and forced millions to flee as government-backed militias have carried out a campaign of terror against civilians.

According to the MSF Web site, people in the Darfur region of western Sudan are in extreme danger, and the massive emergency aid needed to ensure their survival is lacking.

While in the past couple of years the genocide in Darfur has gained international attention, other than attempted peace talks, serious action has not yet been taken to put a final stop to the conflict. According to MSF, approximately 6 million people rely on food assistance in Sudan. The main causes of death are from treatable diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and sleeping sickness. Vaccinations are in dire need, according to the organization.

So what are we thinking as we spend money on things that for so many thousands of people are unimagined luxuries? I am just hoping that Paly students keep in mind the original purpose of the formal when they are about to shell out big money for the evening.

Students in Palo Alto can help, not only by raising money, but also by spreading awareness of the issue. Starting Feb. 1, the United States assumed its month-long term as president of the United Nations Security Council, and can conceivably focus attention and financing towards stopping the genocide in Darfur.

The cost of putting on a formal seems unproportionally large compared to the proceeds. Hobbee’s, Douce France and other restaurants have donated desserts for the formal, and YCS is helping pay for DJ expenses. The money that is being spent on the night could go directly to the ones who need it. Spending hundreds of dollars on the evening and only donating a small portion of that to the cause is concerning. It is good we are donating to MSF, but it is sobering that the contrast with what two couples spend on the evening could be the equivilant of a year’s income for a person in Sudan.

Fortunately, a table will be set up at the dance that will have information and pamphlets on Darfur and Doctors Without Borders to remind us all of why we are there.