Less than $700 was raised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation on Saturday at the Green and White Charity Bowl — about as much as it cost to host the event.
The Senior Class Council spent about $700 on a disc jockey and intramural referees for the eighth annual football tournament which offered a fun way for students to raise money, said human biology senior Jesseca Raak, a philanthropy committee co-chairperson for the Senior Class Council.
Each of the 12 participating teams — made up of IM football teams, college associations, fraternities and other groups — donated $50 to play in the tournament. A raffle brought in an additional $152, Raak said. The council delegated $76 of the proceeds to go toward the annual senior class gift, which hasn't been selected yet, she said.
The council's budget comes from ASMSU's fund of student tax dollars. ASMSU is MSU's undergraduate student government.
Senior Class Council President Kristin Cain admitted it seems silly to put in about as much money as they raised, but said the event was about more than just the money.
"There's so many more elements than the money we spent on it," Cain said. "It's first and foremost giving back to the community, and also creating a fun event on campus that people want to participate in."
Council members advertised the event through listservs and fliers. They had five more teams participate than last year, Raak said, adding that she is happy with the amount of money raised.
IM sports supervisor Elli Newell said she wished she would have known about the tournament earlier so she could have advertised it throughout the IM football season and get more participants.
"Most of the time when people think of charity events, it's not as appealing to people," said Newell, a parks, recreation and tourism senior. "When you give them something like sports that college kids are interested in, I think you'll get a lot more participation."
After more than six hours of football games, the coed IM football team called the "Dolphin Floggers" won the tournament, earning team members the right to choose where the proceeds would go. The team selected the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
It was the fourth year the team participated in the event, said finance senior Aaron Leong.
"We keep coming back just because of the competition," Leong said. "We enjoy playing, plus it goes toward a good cause."
