“A child’s life shouldn’t be a gamble” was the tagline for this year’s Up ‘Til Dawn fundraiser in support of the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. St. Jude’s has become an important event on the AU campus since it was started four years ago, with growing participation every year.

This year’s Vegas-themed event included everything from blackjack tables, plinko boards, a chapel photo-op and raffles for prizes such as gas cards, movie tickets and even Cleveland Cavalier’s tickets. However, the most important part of this event is, of course, the letter writing. This year AU students were able to send out over 4,000 letters.

Lindsey Van Sparrentak, the executive director for this year’s program, and Joni Gill, advocacy chairperson, were hopeful to increase participation for this year’s program.

“I personally went to a lot of groups and organizations, as did other executive board members, to get people educated and tell them about the hospital. Things slowly came into place and we started to plan the logistics of the event such as decorations, food and donations. To see the pieces come together for this event is just amazing to watch,” Gill said.

“It took a lot of work and effort from everyone on the Executive Board and many people who are not on the EBoard. Many people from the Greek community came forward and showed a great interest in St. Jude,” Van Sparrentak said.

The all-Greek philanthropy is St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital as well, so many members of Greek life from all chapters came together to support this event.

For Katie Clement, a senior member of Alpha Phi, the Up ‘Til Dawn program for St. Jude’s helps to remind her that the small efforts made by everyone can make a big difference in the world.

“I love that everyone gets to help a little bit and you get to feel like you participated and made a difference in this huge project that’s helping millions of kids survive through childhood,” Clement said.

For the Tau Kappa Epsilon chapter, St. Jude’s isn’t simply a way to give back to the community. As their international philanthropy, St. Jude’s impacts each of the TKE brothers in a different way. Tom Julian, TKE President, see’s St. Jude’s as a way to show their values of service and brotherhood.

“The founder of St. Jude, Danny Thomas, was a TKE alumni, and we, as a fraternity internationally and here at Ashland, take St. Jude’s extremely seriously…and come together as a fraternity in order to support one of our brothers,” Julian said.

According to the St. Jude’s website, it costs $1.7 million per day to run the hospital and no family is turned away for their inability to pay for medical care.

“Medical treatments are expensive and for that to be alleviated from these families is just a remarkable thing,” Gill said.

Gill and Van Sparrentak were able to experience St. Jude’s Research Hospital over the summer for the Up ‘Til Dawn Conference and see how the program directly helps the hospital.

“The second you walked in the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, you don’t even realize it is a hospital. The children don’t realize that they have life threatening illnesses. The staff is so positive and the hospital is filled with such hope,” Van Sparrentak said.

“I walked in the doors and you couldn’t even get upset; you couldn’t even cry, you couldn’t do anything because it was such a positive, bright, colorful place and the kids there are just so brave and so courageous,” Gill said.

Danny Thomas, founder of St. Jude’s, once said, “Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.” Through the Up ‘Til Dawn program, the AU campus was definitely feeling successful.