Story by Lindsey Coleman, Staff writer
This holiday season Murray State is encouraging Racers to show kindness and positivity in the community through the #RacersCare campaign.
“We recognize that this time of the year can be particularly stressful and challenging for many, but a simple act of kindness—even a smile—can brighten someone’s day,” Adrienne King, vice president of University Advancement, said.
King said the branding, marketing and communication team brainstormed holiday campaign ideas in August and decided a kindness campaign would be great way to include everyone. She said the best part of the #RacersCare campaign is that it’s open to anyone.
“We’ve already had several campus units and student organizations participate. We’ll be showcasing many of these stories over the next of couple of weeks, but we’d love to have even more,” King said. “No act of kindness is too small or too large.”
Though the campaign only formally runs from Nov. 16 to Dec. 9, King said Murray State encourages all members of the Racer family to continue being kind, giving back and showing how much Racers truly care.
Last year, Murray State had a Racer holiday celebration with a different campaign. The #RacerHolidays campaign included a giving challenge to raise scholarship money and highlighted diversity at Murray State by featuring holiday videos.
King said the videos were a way to showcase family traditions from many countries including South Korea, Pakistan, Czech Republic and the United States.
“The videos highlighted the diversity of each individual story, but more importantly, the collective sense of family and celebration among the campus community,” King said.
To share #RacersCare stories, use the hashtag #RacersCare or email the story to msu.pr@murraystate.edu.
To follow the campaign’s progress, visit murraystate.edu/racerscare.
CAMPAIGN SUCCESS THIS FAR
The #RacersCare page is filling up with several stories. Sororities and fraternities have held canned food drives, community members have paid for student meals and students have volunteered with a mentoring program in Calloway County.
The Alpha Gamma Delta sorority had 30 girls who were able to give back to Need Line, Calloway County’s local food pantry.
On Nov. 17, Alpha Gam held a food drive at the entrance of Kroger. Emily Cook, sophomore from Lexington, Kentucky, and Alpha Gam’s Gamma-Experience Coordinator, said the food drive was so successful that they were able to raise four grocery carts full of food in less than two hours.
“Everyone who donated was so sweet and really understood the need for food this community has,” Cook said.
She said she enjoyed contributing to not only Alpha Gam’s service, but also to Murray State’s community service as well.
The Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity also contributes to Need Line. In a span of almost two weeks, they collected 120 cans of food.
Cam Kelly, freshman from Murray and member of Sig Ep, said he took part in the canned food drive.
“One of the reasons I joined Sig Ep is because I knew how involved in the community they are,” Kelly said. “Especially since I’ve lived here, it’s awesome to give back.”