Students sweat to raise money at 'Stay Fit For The Fight'
Students challenged others to Stay Fit For The Fight and raise money for a charitable cause Sunday at the Student Activity Center.
Students from the recreation and event management program took over a portion of the SAC for a fundraiser to support and raise awareness for Community Cancer Services.
As part of their planning recreation programs and events class, RPL 430, and with help from their classmates, Hartland senior Lauren Sistek, Mount Pleasant junior Courtney Rounds, Escanaba junior Ann Marie Servant, Grand Rapids junior Katelyn Geraghty and Northville senior Stephanie Sakorafis coordinated and hosted an integrated fundraiser, where all proceeds went to a charity of their choosing.
In a trailblazing effort to support health and raise awareness for CCS, the group organized an event radically different from the typical trivia game or bar gathering usually set up for this type of event.
“It’s a series of three different fitness classes," Sakorafis said. "Zumba (is) the first one, high-intensity interval training is the second one and then a glutes, guts and guns class. We also have massages from Massage Central and a silent auction table, so we’re trying to get people to do a variety of activities while they’re here.
“It is to help raise awareness and give back to those families who have been affected through cancer and to (have them) know that your community supports you."
By the end of the night, the class raised an estimated $545.
Unlike many of the previous fundraising efforts for the RPL program, Stay Fit For The Fight enlisted the support of numerous community organizations.
Sponsors included Massage Central, PohlCat Golf Course, the SAC, Salon 3Twelve, Bennigan's and Total Lee Sports.
“One of our clients – actually, I think she was taking the class – asked if I would be interested, and she dropped off a flyer,” said Massage Central owner Rebecca Embach.
Stay Fit For The Fight was also met with a great deal of student support, from peers in the RPL 430 class, to past RPL 430 students.
“I actually worked with a girl over the summer who is friends with somebody who is programming it and gave them my name, and I’m an RPL student as well, so I did this same kind of thing,” said Marjorie Wallington, a Jenison senior and the event's Zumba instructor.
Although this was the first of it’s kind for the RPL program, the coordinators hope to lead by example and have their style of fundraising become a benchmark for future RPL programs, as well as continuing to raise awareness for Community Cancer Services.
The fundraiser was a special project for the five coordinators, as they have a close connection with cancer.
As for the RPL program, they hope to see future growth.
“I think it’s definitely going to set a new milestone for the RPL students and I want to see how it can be developed further,” Sistek said.
