With projects mounting and finals just around the corner, the lure of tasty alternatives to frozen burritos beckons brain-fried students.

As the end of the semester nears, City College’s Communication honors society, Sigma Chi Eta, will be raising money for the non-profit organization Hands 4 Others.

“We need to go out with a bang. We need to go out with something big. So we came up with Restaurant Week,” said Carly Cameroe, Secretary of Sigma Chi Eta.

“Everyone has to eat!” she said.

Each day of “Restaurant Week,” May 2 through May 6, a local restaurant will donate a percentage of sales to Sigma Chi Eta. Members like Cameroe have seen smaller projects work well in the past. Making the leap to an entire week seemed natural, she said.

Hands 4 Others, or H4O, has been the focus of Sigma Chi Eta this semester. It was founded by a group of San Marcos High School students and now supplies safe drinking water to seven needy countries: Honduras, Pakistan, Haiti, Uganda, Kenya, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Japan. Its focus is currently on Japan, and the money from Restaurant Week will go to those efforts.

“We wanted to go with a cause that meant something to us, otherwise it’s just a chore,” said Jonathan Arenas, President of Sigma Chi Eta. “I feel that those who need water have the largest need of all.”

SCE tried to pick locations with college cache.

“We just thought, ‘What do we like? What are places we would go to? What restaurants would be down to do this?'” she said.

The fun and food makes it an easy opportunity to make a difference, said Janna Prowell, Vice President of Sigma Chi Eta. “It allows for students to be like, ‘Oh, I’m hungry, I can just go eat to help out,'” she said.

In March, Sigma Chi Eta screened the documentary “Blue Gold.” It exposes the brutal control of water by corporations and governments, giving viewers a new appreciation when they crank their faucets. The society collected donations from the screening and have a collection box set up in the Communications Lab on West Campus, but the severity of the issue demanded more effort.

“We wanted to do more this time, really get out and make more money. I have no doubt that we will with the restaurants that are behind this,” Cameroe said.

The restaurants are Petrini’s, Chili’s, Silvergreens, California Pizza Kitchen, Ben & Jerry’s, and Panda Express. Petrini’s and Ben & Jerry’s only need verbal acknowledgment, but the others require coupons that are available in the Communications Lab.

Students can chomp cheap chow mein or lick brownie batter ice cream cones for a few dollars and know that they are contributing. But beyond the tasty opportunity to help through what “Restaurant Week” provides, Sigma Chi Eta members hope inspiration will outlast full bellies.

“We hope that our efforts will become viral and inspire other people,” said Jill Agonias, a Sigma Chi Eta member.

For society members, the spreading of information and inspiration is of prime importance.

“We just wanted to raise awareness,” Arenas said when reflecting on the screening of “Blue Gold” which made little money but filled BC Forum. “We’re in college, we’re the future. We need to be making these changes around the world,” he said.

Info box:

Monday: Petrini’s

Tuesday: Chili’s (coupon required)

Wednesday: Silvergreens (coupon required)

Ben & Jerry’s

Thursday: California Pizza Kitchen (coupon required)

Ben & Jerry’s

Friday: Panda Express (coupon required)

Ben & Jerry’s