On November 12, the AIC Lions Club raised money and awareness for curing the blind with their Open Mic Coffeehouse in the Campus Center Auditorium.

The event showed off the talents of many AIC students. Students performed, sang, read some poetry, and told some jokes to a delighted audience packed inside the CCA.

“The Lions Club Mission has always been to help the blind. The true mission is to cure blindness in the world,” said Marisa Najarian, active President of the Lions Club.

She said the event showcases what the Lions Club is all about and the whole idea behind the coffee house – having fun while doing good things for others.

“We are just here to create awareness and help those in need,” she said.

Najarian was in the audience during the show collecting donations from just about everyone when asked about the inspiration for the coffee house theme.

On the piano was Jennifer Fannon, a sophomore at AIC and a member of the club.

She would play later on that night with a performance of ‘Locked Away’ by R. City and ‘1000 Years’ by Christina Peri.

“We did this in my high school. I always thought it was really fun,” Fannon said as she nervously went through some last minute rehearsals before making sure everything is ready to go as the show is only 10 minutes away at this point.

Those nerves quickly went away though as the show went on without a hitch. The event opened with an acoustic performance by Senior Mike Forrest as he played a beautiful rendition of Hallelujah that got the audience singing along. Freshman lacrosse player “Downtown” Andrew Brown had his teammates cheering him on during his Country filled performance.

Student Government Association President Alex Clark even got on stage delivering a powerful speech from Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator.”

Students enjoyed this and more all while enjoying the free bagels, pastries, and coffee provided.

“It was awesome, the show was great,” said Emily Hogan, junior member of The Lions Club who was one of the main parts of getting the event together.

With such great reviews following the event anticipation is already building for another event of its kind and it’s something that Emily hopes happens sooner rather than later.

“We would love to do another one. There was some trouble getting this one together but I could see it being a once a month thing,” Najarian said.

Perhaps this can get a jumpstart on a coffee house opening up on campus.