On Friday, Slippery Rock hosted their St. Jude Up Til’ 2 event that raises money for children in St. Jude hospitals.
Every year, there is a goal set for the amount of money raised, and this year’s goal was set at $35,000. The amount was not only met but was doubled and then some, as the final amount was $74,049.
“I’ve known about the event [for a long time], my brother was a patient at St. Jude’s when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and he was recently re-diagnosed with it, so anything I can do to help I will,” said Morgan Simkovic, president of the e-board that organizes the event. Last year, Simkovic’s brother was the speaker at the event.
To take part in the event, teams registered with an unofficial fee of $50 to participate. Teams usually consist of four to twelve people and most of them are organizations or sports teams from the campus.
The event has grown a significant amount in recent years, when Simkovic started participating, the goal was set at around $12,000 and wasn’t met smoothly. This was Simkovic’s fourth year taking part in the event and, in only three years, the amount of money that has been raised has increased by over $60,000. Last year the goal was also surpassed, and the total amount of money raised was $68,767.
“We had about 340 participants this year. Our event has increased and I think it will continue to increase in the future,” Simkovic said.
The games played this year at the event were based around the the Jungle theme and included games such as ‘Hungry, Hungry Hippo’ and even a fashion show where participants wore jungle themed outfits.
This year’s event will go down as the biggest and most successful one yet, but if the trend continues the way it’s been going, this years won’t be the best one for long.
This event may seem small, but, to people like Simkovic and her family, the impact is huge.
“It’s definitely humbling, I know the impact it’s had on me and my brother even came to speak last year,” Simkovic said. “It gives you some perspective and it’s been eye opening being able to share my experience.”
