After seven months of fundraising, The University of Memphis' Up ‘til Dawn chapter unveiled a $152,000 check for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Friday night at the University Center.
Up ‘til Dawn, a student organization that benefits St. Jude revealed this year's big cardboard check just before 3 a.m. Saturday at its annual celebration. The organization raised $23,000 more for 2010-2011 than 2009-'10.
According to Kelly Pietkiewicz, senior education major and executive director for Up ‘til Dawn, the late hours of the finale event serve a symbolic purpose.
"We are just hoping that by staying up real late one night out of the year, we can decrease the amount of parents that have to stay up with their children wondering what's going to happen with their health the next day," Pietkiewicz said.
Since the organization was started 12 years ago at The U of M, it has spread to over 250 campuses nationwide. The U of M chapter has raised over $1.2 million during that time.
Jessica Shemwell, a senior biomedical engineering major and team relations chair for Up ‘til Dawn, accredited the high number of funds raised to the energy of the nearly 100 student teams that participated.
"We really pushed for it the second half of the term," Shemwell said. "The side events this semester just really blew my mind and that's where a lot of our fundraising came from. And people were really being creative about it, so I think between the energy and advertising, it really helped a lot."
Pietkiewicz said Up ‘til Dawn members raised money in many different ways. The most effective was the letter writing party, where students sent donation requests to friends and family. But the most impressive fundraising activity, she said, was "canning," when Up 'til Dawn members hit the streets and ask for donations from drivers stopped at red lights.
"We actually had a weekend where we made over $6,000 from canning this year and that was just unbelievable," she said.
Up ‘til Dawn also collaborated with local restaurants and entertainment facilities to receive percentages of sales for designated days to raise funds.
The entertainment at the finale event consisted of a variety of games, a man who broke bricks with his head, a performance by The U of M pom squad, a live band, an inflatable joust and bungee run, crafts, massages, a caricature artist and even a chance to watch The U of M chess team in action.
The chess team had reserved a room to practice in the University Center prior to Up ‘til Dawn's reservations, so the two organizations collaborated to make a chess tournament part of the finale event.
Jonathan Daniels, a junior economics major and the entertainment chair for Up ‘til Dawn, said the planning for all of the activities wasn't easy.
"It was a lot of behind-the-scenes work and early preparation," Daniels said, "so when the time got here it wasn't like we were in a scramble to make sure we had everything."
Pietkiewicz said she was pleased with the turnout at the finale and the hard work by all those involved. She said she couldn't find the words to express her appreciation for the organization's fundraising efforts this year.
"It's special not only for our campus to be able to say The U of M has raised this much, but also, the more important thing, it's special because of how much we're helping St. Jude."
