All semester long, teams at Plattsburgh State have been raising money for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, a medical facility dedicated to treating children’s cancer, and now they’re celebrating their efforts with the Up ‘Til Dawn event, which takes place Saturday at 11 p.m. and goes to 6 a.m. the next morning in the Warren Ballrooms at the Angell College Center.
“The goal for this year’s event was $50,000, but we’ll probably wind up raising closer to $20,000,” Up ‘Til Dawn Recruitment Chair Kyle Chapman said. Seventy-five percent of the money used to run St. Jude’s is gained from donations.
According to the St. Jude’s website: “Because the majority of St. Jude funding comes from individual contributors, St. Jude has the freedom to focus on what matters most — saving kids regardless of their financial situation.”
On-campus clubs participating in this year’s event include Plattyslack, AKEBA, as well as nearly every PSUC Greek Life organization.
Chapman said fraternities and sororities are big contributors to Up ‘Til Dawn and help raise a lot of money — some of the year’s top contributors include sorority Alpha Epsilon Phi and fraternity Alpha Sigma Phi, all of which have risen more than $1,000 each.
Up ‘Til Dawn has a different theme every year. This year’s theme will be the ’90s, and it will be hosted by PSUC students Scott Sheehan and Will Cangialosi.
Teams will compete in nostalgic games inspired by hit Nickelodeon game shows such as “Legends of the Hidden Temple” and “Figure It Out.” The events will be reminiscent of the days when Silver Snakes ruled the scoreboard and Danny Tamberelli was the victim of a good sliming.
Classic snacks of the ’90s will be served, including Capri Sun and Dunkaroos.
“We’re 1,000 percent having Dunkaroos,” Chapman said. Participants will also eat fondue and be provided breakfast the next morning.
When teams are in between competitions and snacks they’ll have the chance to play Nintendo 64, so be sure to expect some heated rounds of Mario Kart. And if these intense kart races cause the game to freeze, the solution is as easy as blowing in the cartridge.
Chapman said the competiveness and thrill of it all is what really makes Up ‘Til Dawn all worthwhile.
“You come as a team designed to compete,” Chapman said. “Raising money is great, but the events are fun. I had a blast at the one last fall.”
Stephen Murphy, the logistics chair for Up ‘Til Dawn, said a noticeable change for this year’s event deals with the fundraising requirements.
“In previous years each team member had to raise $100, but this year we made it so that if one member doesn’t raise so much money, the rest of the team can pick up the slack,” Murphy said.
Murphy is a member of PSUC’s chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon and said he likes donating to St. Jude’s as it is his fraternity’s philanthropy.
“St. Jude’s is one of the charities I’ll donate to because you actually get to see where your money is going,” Murphy said. “You get a lot of bang for your buck.”
Email Griffin Kelly at griffin.kelly@cardinalpointsonline.com.
