Photo by Abby Bellow
Among the activities of homecoming week, a student-run club aims to raise awareness and funds for the needs of underprivileged children in Edmond, Oklahoma.
“What really excites me… is the ability to donate to a good cause, while at the same time… helping my own club to win,” junior Jonathan Johnson said. “That is something that I think is a win-win situation.”
Oklahoma Christian chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America is hosting its annual penny war fundraiser Nov. 12-15. PRSSA is a national organization for students pursuing a degree in public relations, mass communications or a related field.
Through the penny war, PRSSA is raising donations for U R Special, an Edmond organization that gives coats and backpacks to children in Edmond Public Schools. Each social service club, non-club members and freshmen, can deposit pennies in their group’s jar to earn points or place silver coins and dollar bills in another group’s jar to cause that group to lose points.
Josh Watson, assistant professor of communication and PRSSA faculty sponsor, said he developed the idea for the penny war with a few students about three years ago.
A fundraiser asking for donations of smaller units, such as pennies, is a way to accommodate the financial means of college students while still raising money, according to Watson.
“We raise some funds from students just using change,” Watson said. “They don’t have a lot of money, and so we’re not looking to get twenty and fifty-dollar donations.”
According to Watson, previous penny wars have raised between $150-700, all of which is used by U R Special to provide children with coats and backpacks.
PRSSA President Macie Bentley said she encouraged members to implement a new strategy to coincide with other events on campus.
“Instead of just getting the student body, we could get the alumni, the faculty, the staff, people who have ties to social clubs who will be on campus during Homecoming,” Macie Bentley, PRSSA president said.
PRSSA hopes hosting the penny war during Homecoming will bring in more donations and benefit more children.
“We’re going to give it a try this year and hope that we raise more funds than we have before,” Watson said. “Then more kids get backpacks and coats.”
Watson said the competitive nature of the fundraiser makes it more engaging for students, particularly club members, and heightens participation.
“We use competition, clubs that sort of compete against each other, and try to recognize the winner in chapel,” Watson said. “That competition seems to spur people to give more than they usually would.”
Johnson said fundraisers are a good way to make a group better known on campus. He said PRSSA should become more prominent as a result of the penny war.
“Fundraisers are an interesting concept,” Johnson said. “They really have the ability to bring awareness and publicity to a group, such as PRSSA, as well as involvement and interest.”
Johnson said fundraisers also serve to educate the Oklahoma Christian community about the good things that groups like PRSSA do for the community.
“A lot of their activities are for good causes,” Johnson said. “There is just a lot to learn from fundraisers.”
PRSSA will announce the winning group in chapel after the fundraiser is finished.
“Our plan this year is to get a lovely trophy that we give to them that will just be sort of silly and fun,” Watson said. “It’s usually a little more of pride and being able to say you beat one of the other clubs, but we’re always keeping our eyes open for creative ways to reward them.”
A penny war table outside of the cafeteria will accept donations from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. The table will also be in the lobby of the Payne Athletic Center during the Men’s and Women’s Homecoming basketball games Saturday.
PRSSA updates and more information about the group is viewable on their twitter page.
0
0
Be First to Comment