Story by Lindsey Coleman, News Editor
Julie Boeker/The News
In the past year, teams of students have been working tirelessly to raise funds for one of the nation’s worthiest causes: finding cures and saving children who are cancer patients at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
On Feb. 23, 131 students participated in Up ‘til Dawn, during which they played games, painted canvases to donate to the hospital, danced to a silent disco, celebrated the $40,514.96 they raised and literally stayed awake ‘til dawn in memory and honor of the patients and parents at St. Jude.
Ashley Traylor, Up ‘til Dawn Executive Director and junior from Helena, Alabama, said staying up all night “for the kids” gives them just a glimpse of what the families and patients at the hospital are going through.
“Whether it’s a parent who has a child at St. Jude and they’re losing sleep because they’re worrying about their health, or they’re a patient and they can’t sleep because they’re in pain suffering, we do it in honor of them,” she said.
Contrary to popular belief, Traylor said the event is not Greek-related and is open to any student.
“One of our biggest goals for next year is dispelling the misconception that Up ‘til Dawn is only for Greeks,” she said. “We want to get residential colleges and clubs involved. We want it to be a campus-wide effort to fundraise for this hospital and to share the mission of St. Jude.”
Greek organizations do garner some of the biggest support for Up ‘til Dawn though, since they have competitions to see which organization can raise the most money. This year, Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority and Alpha Gamma Rho took home the top spots by raising $6,607 and $3,690, respectively.
“Our fundraising was really slow in the beginning, but after Christmas break, we came back, and we had a huge push,” Traylor said. “We went from $15,000 to $40,000 from January to February.”
Traylor said it costs $2.4 million per day to operate St. Jude, and everything at the hospital is covered by donations. Everything is free to the families, including transportation, food, housing, and treatment.
She had helped raise money for two years at Up ‘til Dawn as a participant, then took her talents to the role of Executive Director. She said she always loved being a part of something bigger than herself.
“I’ve been to the hospital two times, and to see what my money is going toward is life-changing,” Traylor said. “It humbles you, and it makes you so incredibly thankful for your health and the health of your family. Those kids are battling life-threatening diseases. To know that I’m involved in increasing the cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent and more makes me very thankful that I get to be a part of St. Jude Up ‘til Dawn.”
Megan Homme and Aaron Schlenther were two of the 15 students who served on the Executive Board alongside Traylor.
Homme, Public Relations Director and senior from Chesterton, Indiana, has been on the Executive Board for three years. Through social media and online fundraising campaigns, she focused on getting the word out.
“I knew I wanted to be a part of something in college that gave back, so when I heard about the opportunity to support a St. Jude event, I became involved immediately,” Homme said.
Each year at the event, Homme said they’ve had a St. Jude patient come and share their story.
“Hearing the things they’ve gone through at such a young age really puts your own struggles into perspective,” Homme said. “St. Jude saved their lives, and your donations are what made it all possible.”
Aaron Schlenther, senior from Lexington, Kentucky, was the Event Co-Director. This was his second year serving in this capacity.
“The event is important because it is a celebration of all the efforts people have put into raising money throughout the year,” Schlenther said.
Two years ago, he said he was inspired to be a part of Up ‘til Dawn by the amount of money they were able to raise for such a worthy cause.
“I loved what they were raising money for,” he said. “I am passionate about it and wanted to help as much as I could.”
On March 8, the Executive Board will host one last event called the No More Chemo Rally to celebrate lives saved at St. Jude. Teams of students will compete to see who can spread the word to the most people, and there will be prizes for the winners.
Even though Up ‘til Dawn has ended, fundraising continues until April 15, and every penny goes straight to St. Jude.