Tis the season for giving and Oklahoma State University strategic communications junior Gena McNally is doing her part by organizing the OSU Student Union Activities Board’s (SUAB) Donation Days on Nov. 23-24.
This is the first year SUAB is hosting Donation Days, during which OSU students will be encouraged to donate items to help others in need. Any student who makes a donation will receive a free cup of yummy hot chocolate and cookies!
As a charitable event, Donation Days falls under the “social issues” category of SUAB’s Cultural, Arts and Social Issues (CASI) committee. As the CASI executive, McNally works to ensure the events that fall under this committee are planned and executed in timely manner.
“The holidays can be a tough time for some people,” McNally says. “I’m excited to give OSU students the opportunity to give back. We hope that giving food, money and clothes to those less fortunate can brighten up their holidays.”
McNally was first told of SUAB by a family friend who had been involved with the organization while she had been a student at OSU. McNally joined SUAB as a Spirit Committee member her freshman year and became executive of that committee her sophomore year. She wanted to serve as an executive again this year, and that’s when she decided to run for CASI executive.
The 11-member CASI committee has already had some experience planning some big events this year, including the Graffiti Contest, Latin American Culture Dinner, Bubble Soccer and McNally’s personal favorite, the Culture Crafts and Cuisine. You might have already seen a few of these events covered by Her Campus OK State this semester. Next semester, McNally looks forward to planning more CASI events such as Dragonfly (SUAB’s annual drag show), Comic Con and Sexy Feast.
The hardest part of her job, McNally says, is to make sure everyone on her committee is staying involved and has something to work on. She also notes that the events have to be planned weeks in advance, and as executive, it’s important to stay on top of everything to ensure a successful event.
For now, McNally is happy to be winding down the semester with this charitable event. She encourages all OSU students to #GiveBack at Donation Days.