All for a good cause

Up 'til Dawn raises $40,000 for St. Jude's

Carolyn Walser / staff photographer Junior Erin O'Hara (right) gets her hair cut by Nicole Briscoe, No Limit Hair Designs stylist, for Locks for Love.

The third annual Up 'til Dawn finale event kicked off Friday night at the University Recreation Center. The fund raiser lasted from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. with an approximate crowd of 300 to 400 supporters.

An estimated $40,000 was raised this year by the Up 'til Dawn JMU groups. Of the money raised, 86 percent goes to research, and the remaining 14 percent goes to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

"Since the teams have been raising money for a year, the [finale] night is a reflection of [Up 'til Dawn's student organizers'] hard work," said senior Jen Keys, the entertainment chair. "It's a celebration for thanks to people who have dedicated their time and energy to St. Jude's."

The money raised is sent to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., for children with cancer. Joe Michael, a 13-year-old Harrisonburg resident, is a cancer survivor and was the night's opening speaker.

His mother, Kerry Michael, also spoke. "We are extremely grateful to St. Jude's," she said. "They saved my son's life."

This was a momentous night for Joe Michael because he recently was told he finally had been cured, according to Kerry Michael.

Planning the night's event took over a year's worth of time, effort and dedication by the club's executive director, who started planning it over a year ago, according to senior Jen Granito.

"This has been my best year at JMU solely because of the awesome people that I've gotten to work with and meet," Granito said. "It's remarkable how the JMU and Harrisonburg communities have come together for such a worthy worldwide cause for the children."

Senior Stephanie Noble, the internal director of Up 'til Dawn, said, "This is an extremely huge event. I don't think any other group on campus draws as much awareness to this cause.

"You can see hope through the cancer patients, lift family spirits and see what the money goes toward," she added.

The overall theme of the night was "A Year in the Life." The themes changed every hour, which represented a different month of the year.

For its finale event of the year, Up 'til Dawn members organized sporting events, "Star Search" and "Survivor" contests and a womanless beauty pageant, which consisted of guys dressing as girls.

The night was highlighted by an hourly morale dance. Headed by Grace Easby-Smith, morale chair, and senior Elizabeth McCeney, recruitment chair, the dance revived tired supporters throughout the night.

"We do the morale dance to pep people up," McCeney said. "All the teams learn the dance, and we all bond."

Supporters who began dozing off immediately were sent to "Morale Jail."

"When we see people falling asleep, we try to pep them up by putting them in jail," Easby-Smith said. "We make them go find out facts about Up 'til Dawn so they can learn about the organization and have fun at the same time."

Sleepers were held in a pretend jail in one of the smaller gyms until they started to pep up.

Since being active is such a strong component of this organization, teams were honored at the event.

The team "Curly Fries" was the year's leader in fund raising. The group consisted of 10 people who raised $3,000 collectively throughout the year.

"For tonight's event, each team member was required to raise $100," junior Erin Curley said. "We did this by writing letters to friends and family asking for their support of such an admirable cause."

As the name of the organization states, the groups literally stayed "up 'til dawn" in an effort to raise money and awareness for St. Jude's.

"It's all for the kids," Granito said.