In its fifth consecutive year on campus, organizers of the all-greek philanthropic event Up ‘til Dawn plan on fundraising $10,000 more than last year.
The event, which benefits St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, aims to raise $35,000, said Elizabeth Graham, chair of the event and a junior studying retailing and consumer sciences. Up ‘til Dawn, Graham said, raises money for donations by sending letters.
The registration fee is $5, and all those who are registered must show up to the event with as many addresses from friends and family as they can gather. Participants then address the letters at the event and stuff them with an automated message that asks for donations.
The event was largely successful, raising $25,000 last year, Graham said. About 500 people registered, but this year the organization hopes to exceed that number before registration closes on Friday.
The $5 registration fee also offsets most of the event’s cost, Graham said, and St. Jude’s covers the rest. Because the event runs mostly from donations, keeping operational costs low is easy, she added.
Jayna Nance, the event’s marketing representative for the hospital, said the donations allow the families of sick children to use the hospital’s resources for free. The donations also pay for these families’ air and hotel fare, Nance said, in addition to research conducted at the hospital that is shared with hospitals worldwide.
“One child saved at St. Jude is thousands throughout the world,” she said.
Up ‘til Dawn will also replace CATwalk, a 5K walk on campus to support cancer research, as the Greek Life-wide philanthropy starting next year. CATwalk was the greek philanthropy for 11 consecutive years.
“I think Up ‘til Dawn is a great event,” said Megan Stolberg, the event’s executive director and a business management senior. “We have seen a lot of growth, and we were voted to be the all-greek philanthropy for next year. This would be great to help St. Jude.”
Since the event’s inception at the University of Memphis, Nance said, Up ‘til Dawn has spread to more than 250 college campuses nationwide, and raises more than $3.4 million annually for the hospital. It is the biggest collegiate philanthropy event that the hospital participates in every year, she added.
“It really was the colleges stepping up and saying, ‘We want to help St. Jude’,” Nance said.
