St. Jude's Up 'til Dawn raises money for children battling cancer
Travers City Junior Kelly Forrester balances dice on a popsicle stick in support of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Anspach 258 on Oct. 19.
While children at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis battle cancer and other diseases, one group at Central Michigan University is hoping to make a difference.
St. Jude's "Up 'til Dawn" hosted its first meeting of the semester Wednesday in Anspach Hall Room 258. The group will host monthly meetings in anticipation of its Up 'til Dawn event on Feb. 17, 2017.
The organization will rent out Bovee University Center from midnight to 6 a.m. for participants and its executive board. The night will include food, entertainment, games and prizes as a celebration for those who raised $100
Traverse City junior Kelly Forrester is in her first year at St. Jude's Up 'til Dawn as fundraising director. Forrester's uncle, Don Forrester, was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer in November 2012, and passed away a year later.
Forrester joined a group to make a difference. So far this year, St. Jude's has raised $9,000 of its $30,000 goal.
“It’s pretty hard to get over," Forrester said. "I’m still not 100 percent over it so I decided I wanted to make a difference so someone wouldn’t be in the same position I was three years ago.”
Forrester presented cancer statistics at Wednesday's meeting. In a list titled "Every Dollar Makes a Difference," Forrester revealed it costs $2 million every day to run St. Jude's, and the money brought in is from donors.
The survival rate for those diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia has increased from 4 to 94 percent in five years.
The group showed a video of St. Jude's partnership with Expedia, and how Expedia members can donate points to St. Jude's.
The meeting concluded with four minute-to-win-it challenges. In one challenge, participants had to pull tissues out of a tissue box. Another challenge had participants quickly stack cups.
In the third challenge, participants had to balance dice stacked on a popsicle stick. The final challenge had participants the prices for St. Jude's services.
They learned one day of oxygen costs $500, two platelet transitions cost $1,042 and crutches are typically $50.
“Unfortunately, cancer is something that does unite us and hopefully one day — I hate to say this because I love these people — but hopefully one day groups like this won’t exist and we would have kicked cancer right out the door," Forrester said.
Saint Charles senior Tony Erskine has been a group member for three years and is part of the group's cultural chair. He said last year, St. Jude's Up 'til Dawn hosted several pancake dinners, and raised $24,000.
Erskine said CMU's Up 'til Dawn raised the fourth highest amount out of 88 schools in summer 2015.
“The best part about this is that you know you’re making a difference," Erskine said. "(With) someone’s life and especially if that someone’s life is a kid, it just feels that I know that I’m doing something helping somebody out.”
Carol Stream, Illinois senior Erica Haug wants to be a physical therapist for kids. After having members struggle through cancer, Haug's mission as the organization's recruitment director is to help promote and aid participant's fundraising efforts.
She said a goal of the group is the make it a bigger presence on campus.
“For recruitment, what I really want is for people to register, which means they make an account where people can donate money," Haug said. "I want to really promote the cause. What we’re doing to help raise money to save children’s lives and see if that can get them to join us.”
Forrester said the group will have a meeting in November and one before the semester break. A dodgeball tournament is planned for Nov. 12, and six-person teams have to pay $12, or $2 per person.
With members of the group having been touched or affected by cancer, Forrester said the group is united by the cause and plan to make a difference this year.
“Knowing that all of these other people have been affected has kind of helped me see that there’s other people like myself and that’s kind of helped me move on in the process," Forrester said.
You can donate to St. Jude's here.
