Students for Kenya had just $18 in its bank account when it began planning the LWALA Benefit Gala. Some $10,000 later, program director, senior Danielle Snyder, said they are ready to earn even more Thursday night.

Snyder said the inaugural benefit aims to raise awareness and money to support the completion of the first health clinic to be built in Lwala, Kenya. The benefit will feature a 20-minute documentary, fashion show, silent auction and live band.

"We hope in the future this event will become as big as Rites of Spring, something that kids will look forward to every year," she said.

"Right now people have no idea what Students for Kenya is and what LWALA is, but once people hear their stories they will want to get involved," said senior Brittani Hale.

Former Sen. Bill Frist will deliver the keynote address at the gala, which will take place from 7 to 10:30 p.m. at the Student Life Center. Tickets to the event cost $16 at the Sarratt Box Office and $20 at the door.

Frist said his son, sophomore Jonathan Frist, brought the idea of participating in the benefit to him, pointing out that it benefits a clinic similar to the ones he worked with in southern Sudan.

"The incidence of HIV and tuberculosis is higher (in Lwala) than the African average," Bill Frist said. "We have the opportunity of replicating what I have helped to do personally in Sudan and Kenya."

Snyder said Students for Kenya asked Frist to be the keynote speaker because of his "extensive" involvement in Africa.

"(Frist) is totally relevant," Snyder said. "He really feels strongly about AIDS efforts and connecting with our generation and giving us a venue. He wants us to feel like we can make a difference, we can help."

Snyder visited Lwala this summer as a part of her internship with 85 Broads, a company that provides networking opportunities for women of all ages, and brought the idea of hosting an event to Students for Kenya. She is featured in the documentary that will be shown at the gala.

"It really was a life-changing experience," Snyder said of her trip to Lwala. "We were living in the mud huts, and there were three funerals while we were there. You experience the full range of emotions every day."

She said the benefit will closely resemble the documentary premiere, which took place in New York last November.

Students for Kenya is an undergraduate student organization founded in 2005 devoted to the promotion of community development in Lwala.

Listen to former Senator Bill Frist discuss his upcoming keynote address for Thursday night's LWALA Benefit.