Administration

Communications

C-SC’s Up ‘til Dawn chapter raises over $41K for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Thursday, March 26, 2009

CANTON, MO. –Culver-Stockton College marked the beginning of something great by establishing its first ever Up ‘til Dawn chapter, with the hopes of raising $16,000-$18,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a realistic goal for a campus of 800 students. To the student’s surprise they shattered their goal, raising over $41,000 for St. Jude.

“Fight the yawn – stay awake to cure childhood cancer” is the motto of Up ‘til Dawn, a “student-led, student-run philanthropic program hosted by colleges and universities nationwide.” The name, Up ‘til Dawn, is used to commemorate those who sometimes have sleepless nights due to their battles with cancer. Students join together on college and university campuses nationwide to help raise awareness and support for St. Jude through a variety of fundraising activities.

The biggest fundraising activity for C-SC was a letter writing campaign called the “letter writing party”, where teams of six students wrote 50 letters each to send to friends and family asking them to make donations to help fight cancer. One-third of C-SC’s student body took part in the “letter writing party” and together submitted 9,862 letters to be sent to friends and family. Other fundraising activities at C-SC included selling candy canes, valentines, and blankets, as well as hosting a video game tournament, a kiss a pig contest, where C-SC faculty and staff volunteered to kiss a pig if they raised the most money, and a head or facial hair shaving competition, where cans were set out with people’s names on them and the ones with the most money had to shave their head or facial hair if their can contained the most money.

A grand finale celebration was held on March 20, for students who took part in the “letter writing party.” During the finale students actually stayed Up ‘til Dawn to find out how much money they raised for St. Jude. The night started at 8 p.m. and was full of fun, games, and companionship and included entertainment by comedian Dan Cummins and hypnotist McVicar the Trickster. Food was donated by local businesses and a variety of physical and fun events were held throughout the night to keep students awake.

The night also brought members of the St. Jude community to speak to C-SC students. Jeanie Hoskins, Monmouth, Ill., is the mother of a former St. Jude patient, Nolan Kane. Hoskins, who was also present at C-SC’s letter writing event, shared her story about losing her son to cancer, and about her commitment to supporting St. Jude’s. Hoskins three other sons, Jackson (15), Drew (12), and Reece (7), also attended the event. Nancy Waters, a C-SC alum from Liberty, Ill., also attended the event with her son Spencer who is currently a St. Jude’s patient. They shared their story with C-SC students as well.

For the grand finale select students wore shirts with a number that was part of the total amount of money that they raised on them. Students guessed and tried to place students in the correct order to make the number on their shirts match the amount of money raised. The final amount revealed was $40, 832.01 and counting. By the end of the night C-SC had raised over $41,000.

“I think the most important thing I have learned through helping with Up ‘til Dawn is that you can really make a difference. One-third of our student body volunteered their time to help kids that they have never met,” said Jessica Krumrei, junior, English and religion/philosophy major from Springfield, Ill., and C-SC Up ‘til Dawn board member.

“I want C-SC’s Up ‘til Dawn to keep growing. I hope our number of participants grow each year, as well as the amount of money raised,” said Samantha Zaiser, senior nursing major from Washington, Ill., and executive board director of C-SC’s Up ‘til dawn.

Kelsey Stout, junior nursing major from New London, Mo., and one of the largest money raisers of the fundraising effort sums it all up well when she said, “One tiny person or school, can really make a difference, if you think you can.”

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tenn., St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. No family ever pays for treatments not covered by their insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its fundraising organization. For more information about St. Jude visit www.stjude.org or call 1-800-822-6344.