Up ‘til Dawn gives students chance to help cancer victims
Hands-on experience with patients make event stand apart from rest

By LaNasha Houze
Staff Reporter

More than 200 students will dance the night away to raise funds for the fight against cancer at the Up ‘til Dawn event Saturday.Up ‘til Dawn, a 24-hour fund raiser, will benefit the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. A total of 36 pre-registered teams will gather in the Student Center Ballroom at 6 p.m. to listen to patients’ stories and live local bands.

The event started last fall, when students campaigned for hospital donations through letters and company sponsorships.

Jennifer Wooton, associate director of the St. Jude’s Dallas office, said the contributions from Up ‘til Dawn will pave the way for the program to extend nationally.

“TCU was one of the first schools to have this program,” Wooton said. “Because of the generosity of TCU students, we are able to keep the doors of St. Jude alive.”

Cat Berry, vice director of the event, said that two years ago the council was unsuccessful in starting the event because of a lack of student participation and time for fund raising.

“A student learned about the event at a national conference and tried to hold the event that same spring semester,” Berry said. “But we didn’t have enough time to work with the St. Jude fund-raising affiliate.”

Berry said participation improved for the first official event, because the council had a year to organize the activities and public relations.

St. Jude is a hospital dedicated to helping children, who battle cancer. Since no child is turned away due to financial difficulties, the hospital depends on donations from the community. Last year, the event raised $26,677 with only 20 teams, 16 less than this year.

Total contributions for this year will not be available until after the end of registration at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Jenna Meriwether, director of the event, said the hands-on interaction with the patients and the facility make this philanthropy stand apart from others. During her visit to the hospital last fall, Meriwether said that she saw a videotape of a child receiving treatment for spinal cancer.

“You can see what (the hospital) does for the children and their families,” she said. “The videotape was the closest we actually came to see them treat a patient. To see what little things they did to make it easier for him made (the philanthropy) more real.”

LaNasha Houze
l.d.houze@student.tcu.edu