Last weekend, on February 25, the University of New Haven come together to participate in the finale event for St. Jude’s Up Til Dawn. Teams began lining up, and it wasn’t long before the rec center had filled up with teams, excited to participate in the finale event.’
St. Jude’s is a children’s research hospital dedicated to fighting and ending childhood cancer, working off the belief of the founder that “no child should die in the dawn of life.” Up ‘Til Dawn came from this belief, and participants give up a night of sleep, and compete while showing support for the hospital. It is from events like this, as well as general donations to the hospital, that make it possible for St. Jude’s to operate regularly. Added to this, the donations make it possible for the hospital to pledge that no family treated at the hospital ever receives a bill.
Time seemed to move quickly as the teams checked in, and everyone prepared for the first challenge; a relay, where each member of the team was sent to compete in an individual event.
Between challenges, there was a large buffet of food, as well as pop corn and cotton candy handed out by volunteers. Other things offered to keep participants moving were several inflatables. Music played all night, and people were encouraged to get up and dance.
The second challenge merged two teams, and the teams created pages or book covers of famous Dr. Suess books and related them back to St. Jude’s.
The third and final challenge made teams run around the rec center as people responded to commands such as ‘Dr. Suess is coming.’
After the last of the challenges had concluded and the night began to wind down, the teams took seats in front of the stage, and were shown a video introducing the participants to a patient of St. Jude’s. The winning teams were announced and prizes were distributed. After, the annual singing of the ‘No Mo Chemo’ song took place before the final amount raised was announced.
That number?
$126,595!
The University of New Haven had a record breaking year! Not only that, but they were able to reclaim their number three spot in the nation. The group is still raising money, and the amount raised is still continuing to rise.