MLK week charity basketball game raises money for food pantry
More than 100 Central Michigan University students and staff gathered for a charity basketball game to wrap up Martin Luther King Jr. week Jan. 25, raising money and donations for the CMU Food Pantry.
Multicultural Academic Student Services hosted their annual charity basketball game in the Student Activity Center's Small Sports Forum.
Admission to the event was free, but donations of money and food were accepted. All proceeds from the game went to benefit the food pantry.
Two teams, the red team and the blue team, were composed of staff and students. The red team was coached by former graduate assistant Eris Taylor, and the blue team was coached by the assistant director of Multicultural Academic Student Services, Jonathan Glenn. The nine-player teams consisted of five players and four substitutes.
The audience enjoyed the competition between teams and was an exciting, fun end to the conclusion of Martin Luther King Jr. week.
The CMU food pantry serves as a way to give back to the community.
"We chose this charity just because it's a new entity on CMU's campus," said Wade Tomson, executive secretary of Multicultural Academic Student Services. "We wanted to do what we could to support our own students , essentially it's students giving back to other students."
At halftime, 3-point shots for a prize were offered for a dollar donation. Over 40 students took part in the activity.
"We raised a lot of money for the student food pantry," said Seattle graduate student Cyrus Stewart. "It's important that we give back to the community because the things that MLK fought for are not done. They're still not over. We still battle against racism, and oppression and hatred, so it's important we come together for a week; it should be forever."
The Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center created the CMU Food Pantry and worked with the MASS office for the event. The blue team quickly took the lead in the first, second and third quarters of the game with a tie at halftime.
The red team won, 42-37.
"I thought it was a really good turn out, especially with everyone coming in and bringing donations," said Oak Park junior Lauren Angel. "It's important to donate to programs like the CMU food pantry because you don't realize a lot of stuff going on in Mt. Pleasant."
