Every year in early November, Illinois State’s service sorority, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, hosts an Up ‘Til Dawn event to fundraise for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In 2013, ISU’s Up ‘Til Dawn (UTD) event had a goal of raising $100,000. In 2014, $160,451 was raised. This past Saturday night, UTD raised an incredible $203,794 for St. Jude.
Raising over $200,000 has only been done once before in UTD history. California State University raised $205K with over 2,300 participants. This year’s UTD event at Illinois State had around 750 participants.
To start the night off, Hunter Hayes made a special appearance and performed his hit song “21”. He also held a meet and greet with the top 10 fundraisers for the event. Hayes congratulated and thanked all the participants for coming out and working hard to fundraise for such an incredible cause.
The rest of the night consisted of various activities including a scavenger hunt around the quad, memory games, silent disco, bracelet making, and more. Some of the most inspirational parts of the night came from the families of St. Jude that came out to speak to everyone at UTD. Hearing directly from those that have been helped by St. Jude really puts things into perspective through the night. It means the world to hear them talk about how much all that we’re doing helps others and how much they appreciate it.
The night of UTD is easily one of the most eye-opening experiences on campus. Senior Jenna Brauer is the St. Jude chairperson for ESA and described the entire experience of UTD as “absolutely life changing. The most important thing is remembering throughout the night why we are there and how much of a difference it truly makes.”
Other ESA members described the night as an amazing, passionate, energizing and awe inspiring experience as well as an incredibly rewarding process. One of the hashtags used frequently throughout UTD and various St. Jude activities is #ForTheKids, putting a strong passion behind all fundraising actions.
The goal for the final total has continued to raise over the years. This year’s original goal was $185K; to be able to exceed this goal by more than $15K is incredible. We look forward to seeing what this incredible event can do next year!