October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the Hurricanes volleyball team is doing its part to raise awareness with a “pink” game to raise money to support the cause. On Friday, October 23, the Hurricanes take on the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in a pivotal Atlantic Coast Conference game. Match time is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Knight Sports Complex.

All fans are encouraged to attend the game and wear pink. For those who have yet to pick up their pink gear, a special Hurricanes volleyball pink T-shirt will be available at the game. All fans in attendance will be eligible to enter a raffle, with a Victoria’s Secret pink gift basket the grand prize.

Tickets to the game are $5 for adults, $3 for children and seniors. For more information, log on to www.hurricanesports.com.

UM’s creative writing department will host UHelp, a special USpeak event to raise funds for Red Cross efforts in the Philippines, on Friday, October 23 at 6 p.m. at the Oasis Deli in the University Center.

During the week of September 25, 2009, Tropical Storm Ketsana pounded the islands of the Philippines with more than one month’s worth of rain in a matter of six hours. Over one million people were displaced by the storm, only to be hit again by a second storm, Typhoon Parma. More than 300 people were killed, and many more are wounded, helpless, and displaced. Families waded through knee-deep water, searching for relatives and neighbors as homes were engulfed with water. The floods have destroyed rice fields, ripped through power lines, and left many homes destroyed and families shelterless.

UM’s creative writing department seeks to create a positive impact through this community event. For more information, please visit www.as.miami.edu/english/creativewriting/readingseries/uspeak.

From Aviva Kempner, maker of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, comes this humorous and eye-opening profile of television pioneer Gertrude Berg. Berg was the creator, principal writer, and star of The Goldbergs, a popular radio show that ran for 17 years and evolved into television’s very first character-driven domestic situation comedy in 1949. Berg received the first Best Actress Emmy and paved the way for women in the entertainment industry. The film includes interviews with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, actor Ed Asner, producers Norman Lear (All in the Family) and Gary David Goldberg (Family Ties), and NPR correspondent Susan Stamberg. The film screens on Friday, October 23 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, October 24 at 6:20 p.m.; and Sunday, October 25 at 4:30 p.m. For more information visit www.cosfordcinema.com.

Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt), a 35-year-old parking-garage attendant from Staten Island, is the self-described “world’s biggest Giants fan.” He lives at home with his mother, spending his off hours calling in to a local sports-radio station. His family berates him for doing nothing with his life, but they don’t understand the depth of his love of the Giants. One night Paul and his best friend, Sal, spot Giants star linebacker Quantrell Bishop at a gas station and follow him to a strip club. Paul cautiously decides to approach him, stepping into the rarefied air of football stardom—but things do not go as planned. The fallout of this chance encounter brings Paul’s world crashing down around him as his family, the team, the media, and the authorities engage in a tug of war over Paul, testing his allegiances and calling into question everything he believes in. Admission is $6 for all University of Miami faculty, staff, and alumni; free for students. General admission is $8. The film screens on Friday, October 23 at 9 p.m.; Saturday, October 24 at 4:30 p.m. and 8:10 p.m.; and Sunday, October 25 at 6:20 p.m. For more information, visit www.cosfordcinema.com.

Malnutrition is a serious issue in many impoverished nations. In Haiti, for example, one in eight children dies of malnutrition before the age of 5. On Friday, October 23, the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus will host Food for the Poor’s “All-Nighter for the Poor” at the Wesley Foundation between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. Participating student groups including Catholic Student Association, Students Towards Ending Poverty (STEP), and Intervarsity (UIAC), in collaboration with the Wesley Foundation, will raise money not only to feed children who suffer from malnutrition, but to provide impoverished countries with the resources necessary to become self-sufficient.

On this night, Food for the Poor will broadcast live via a Web-conference to participants at the University of Miami, sharing videos, live music, photos, stories from the field and testimonials. Activities will take place throughout the night to keep participants entertained and informed.

“A large percentage of the world lives on less than two dollars a day, and many lack even the bare essentials to survive,” said Alexander Rafuls, Group Leader of “All-Nighter for the Poor” at UM. “We must do our parts to help them.”

Register to participate in “All-Nighter for the Poor” by calling 1-877-654-2960, ext. 6988 or by e-mailing [email protected]. To download publicity materials, create personalized donation pages, and more, visit www.allnighterforthepoor.org. To donate to Canes for the Poor, please visit http://support.foodforthepoor.org/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=1140&team_id=1860.

Food for the Poor, the nation’s largest international relief and development organization, feeds millions of hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. The organizaton also provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training, and micro-enterprise development assistance; more than 96 percent of all donations go directly to programs that help the poor.