The Student Athlete Advisory Committee's (SAAC) Help Haiti Dodgeball Tournament on Friday raised over $500 to aid relief efforts in Haiti.
The committee, which is comprised of representatives from the varsity sports teams on campus, seeks to reach out and serve the community. It is part of the NESCAC SAAC.
"We're part of the [NESCAC] SAAC, which decided to have an event to raise funds to donate, and this is the one that we chose to do," junior Dawson Joyce-Mendive, one of the event's organizers, said.
According to Joyce-Mendive, a little over $520 was raised, and 16 teams registered to participate in the conference, totaling approximately 120 people. Participants ranged from members of sports teams to members of fraternities and sororities.
All of the funds raised will be donated to the Red Cross. Joyce-Mendive explained that the organizers chose to do something different from their past fund-raisers.
"We decided that we just wanted to do one big event so we can advertise better," she said. "Before we've just had cans, and people go around and collect money. We wanted to get more people involved."
Joyce-Mendive feels that the event was a success. "It was our first event like this, so there was a lot of trial and error," she said. "But it ended up being very successful. I think all the participants really got into it; they came in costumes and had a lot of fun."
Sophomore JT Rinciari, a member of the winning team "Smut Gremlins," agreed that a good time was had by all.
"Everyone enjoyed themselves, and at the same time we were doing it for a really good cause," he said. "We thought it was an awesome idea to help out a country in need."
He attributed the team's success to one of his fellow teammates. "We were pretty confident going in, but the pristine leadership of [junior] Anthony Fucillo pushed us there."
