Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is inviting the local community to a pasta dinner on Oct. 17 that will benefit the New York City Fire Department Widows and Orphans Fund.

The dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, bread, salad, and dessert, will be served from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the McNeil Room of the Rensselaer Student Union on 15th Street. The cost is $10 per person, $5 for Rensselaer students. The dinner will include a 50/50 raffle. No registration is required.

The dinner will support the Troy Fire Fighters Local #86 initiative to raise money for the fund, created by the New York City Fire Department for the widows and children of those firefighters who died as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

The dinner is sponsored by the Office of the First Year Experience at Rensselaer in collaboration with Sodexho and the Rensselaer Student Union.

For more information, call Rensselaer's Office of the First Year Experience at (518) 276-6864.