On February 9 starting at 8 p.m., the six-hour St. Jude Up ‘Til 2 fundraiser will take place in the ARC.
“We host [Up ‘Til 2] every year to raise money and awareness for St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital,” said executive director of Up ‘Til 2 and senior resort recreation and hospitality and French professionalism double major Katy Fuller. “This hospital is not like any other hospital: anyone can go there from all over the world for free.”
The event has been on campus for a number of years, although it used to have a different name.
“It was originally named St. Jude Up ‘Til Dawn,” Fuller said. “Last year, we changed the event to St. Jude Up ‘Til 2. Last year was a big success and so we kept the name and event.”
The fundraising goal for the event this year is $20,000.
According to senior sports management and philanthropy and nonprofit management double major MacKenzie King, the planning, fundraising and recruiting process for Up ‘Til 2 began over the summer. This is King’s second year as fundraising director for Up ‘Til 2.
“When a participant registers for our event, they must raise at least $50 to gain entrance to our event in February,” King said of the registration process. “They get their own individualized fundraising page that they can share through email or post on social media. Participant fundraising is one of our largest sources of funds to reach our goal!”
Other fundraising comes from local communities and from the board members, and King said the most popular sponsorship option is called “ABC of Cancer.” Businesses pay $100, and children at St. Jude draw a letter in the alphabet illustrating what it means to them. The businesses sponsoring are then given the drawings to display, showing their support for the hospital and for the cause.
Another popular fundraising opportunity is “Million Pennies Campaign.” Mason jars are decorated and placed in local businesses, urging community members to put loose change into the jars to help us reach a million pennies for the kids of St. Jude,” Fuller said.
As this school year approached, there were many fundraising and recruiting events that had taken place. One of the first events was Awareness Week for Childhood Cancer on the week of September 11. $5 all-you-can-eat pancakes were served on September 17, and all proceeds went to the hospital. There was also a 48-hour recruitment and donation challenge from November 13 through the November 15 in order to raise more money and get new recruits. Emerson Brown was the winner during the two days and received a Sheetz gift card.
“Every time those numbers increase we get excited,” Fuller said. “Whenever we have a table to let the campus know about our event and cause, we meet more people who have heard about our event and have already registered. It is really encouraging to know that our event is spreading.”
On November 29, the fundraising event Spaghetti on the Ready delivered orders, and all proceeds benefitted Up ‘Til 2. From December 31 through January 2, there was another 48-hour recruitment and fundraising team challenge. The Exercise Science Society was the winner of this challenge, and will receive 25 bonus points at the event February 9.
To follow St. Jude Up ‘Til 2 and learn more about the event, follow them on Twitter @SRU_Uptil2, on Snapchat @sru_uptil2 and on Instagram @sru_uptil2.
