By Lindsey McLemore | Reporter and Taliyah Clark | Reporter

The Baylor community will have the opportunity come together to give thanks and give back Wednesday at the All-University Thanksgiving and the philanthropic Fall Festival.

Baylor student government and Student Foundation will host the annual event at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on Fountain Mall.

Dinner will be catered by Aramark and Baylor Dining Services and is free and to all students, faculty and staff. This year’s dinner and Fall Festival will feature live music, performances and carnival-style booths to promote student organization philanthropies.

Kaufman senior Stephen Genzel is a campus promotions co-chair for Student Foundation.

“Normally, All-University Thanksgiving and Fall Festival are separate events, but for the first time, we have teamed up with student government to turn it into a joint event. We think this will allow both organizations to serve the community even more.”

Fall Festival will be a carnival-style event with booths from a variety of student organizations representing their philanthropic partners.

“It’s going to be really good because not only will [the Baylor community] be able to have a good time, but they will also get to learn about different philanthropies which we are raising money to support,” said Spring senior Justin Burks, a Student Foundation member.

Burks said he enjoyed helping plan the Fall Festival and looks forward to seeing people come out and have a good time Wednesday night.

“We had such a big turnout last year, so this year we wanted to make it bigger and better, so we are getting other organizations involved around campus,” Burks said. “We want the Baylor community to have a place where they can come together and be surrounded by other students, faculty and members of the Waco community.”

San Bernadino, Calif., senior Arcadia Ramirez has been to All-University Thanksgiving Dinner for the past three years in a row.

“I enjoy All-University Thanksgiving because it’s a really good time to go out with friends and meet people you don’t know,” Ramirez said. “I like being able to celebrate a holiday that is about giving thanks with the family you have created at school.”