By Jing Chai
Kelsey MacLeod, a third-year double-majoring in Law, Letters, & Society and Political Science, organized the “KATwalk for Kathleen” charity event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. This event raised a total of $12,050 as of November 15 and solicited the participation of 350-400 people.
Late August, Kelsey found out that her Kappa Alpha Theta pledge sister Kathleen was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Kathleen revealed that she wouldn’t be coming back to campus in the fall in order to undergo treatment in Texas. Even though she couldn’t sit in on the treatments, Kelsey felt the urge to help Kathleen in some way.
Given Kathleen’s humble personality, Kelsey knew that any effort to fundraise specifically for her would not be welcomed. Instead, Kelsey decided on a compromise solution to fundraise for general cancer research. After doing extensive research on specific charities and hospitals, Kelsey decided on the American Cancer Society because it is not religiously affiliated and is one of the most efficient and well-known charities for cancer research.
The idea to hold a charity walk came when Kelsey’s friend at Southern Methodist University told her the Kappa Alpha Theta there held a charity 5k fundraiser also called the “KATwalk”. Inspired, Kelsey brought the idea to the Chief Marketing Officer and President of Kappa Alpha Theta in early September. Together, they planned the security, food, and venue.
After securing the charity, Kelsey started planning the logistics of the event. Even though Kelsey has had experience in the past organizing speaker events at a human rights advocacy, she had never been in charge of a charity event involving over 400 people.
Kelsey asked participants to purchase $5 tickets for the event. The goal of the tickets was to be an inexpensive way for people to get involved. The ticket sales raised a little under $800 the day of the event, not counting online sales in the days prior.
Kelsey mobilized the extensive support of the Greek network to support the event. Besides emailing Greek organizations on campus, she also utilized personal friendships within the Greek community to encourage participation. One fraternity even offered to host an after-party for the KATwalk and donate a portion of the proceeds to the American Cancer Society. Fraternity brothers also helped grill hamburgers and hot dogs at the event.
Beyond the reach of the Greek community, Kelsey also utilized the connections her sisters had in various RSOs to help get the word out about the event. She designated sisters to be spokeswomen for the KATwalk in different RSOs, from Dance Marathon, to PhiNix, to Women In Business. For the overall campus community, Kelsey along with the help of her sisters publicized the event via a Facebook event page.
Kelsey encountered a significant obstacle on the day of the event when the weather for the outdoor walk began to turn sour. Rain started to pour down and there was no alternative event location. In the end, the rain eventually let up and the event could move on as planned.
For Kelsey, the most rewarding part of organizing the KATwalk was seeing people come together who did not know Kathleen or have personal connections to her sorority. It was also fun for her to see people come in costumes in Halloween spirit.
Besides being a sister of Kappa Alpha Theta, Kelsey is also involved in Women in Law, a new RSO aimed at raising campus discourse about women in the legal profession, and teaches piano in Hyde Park. Kelsey plans on entering law school after graduation, but nothing is set in stone.