Leonard Carmichael Society to host LCS Fenway Fundraiser

The Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS) will host a spring fundraiser at Fenway Park, called "LCS Takes Fenway," for the Red Sox April 27 game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Junior Skyler Bast, co-presisdent of LCS, described the event as a good opportunity for students to give back to the community at the end of the year. The fundraiser will kick off with drinks and food at the Lower Campus Center Patio, and buses will then transport students to Fenway Park for the game.

"The Office for Campus Life was able to get the tickets at a discounted price, which increases our margin of fundraising," Bast said. "We planned it last year for the first time. Two hundred tickets were available, and they were all sold out.”

This year, the 200 tickets will again be available for students to purchase for $30. Students will also be allowed to buy tickets for guests at a price of $35. All proceeds will go to the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Bast added that they hope to raise close to $3,000 for the Somerville Homeless Coalition, which would be similar to the funds they raised at last year’s event.

LCS Director of Publicity Joey Cheung, a junior, explained that the publicity team is always looking to publicize the event in new and creative ways.

"What’s great is that we’re doing this event for the second time," she said. "We’ve always been shaky in terms of establishing a spring fundraiser because [LCS] Vegas is always successful in the fall. We’re trying to consolidate this event as the LCS Spring Fundraiser to the same measurement of success.”

In terms of publicity efforts, LCS has been focusing on flyering, chalking, making table tents, creating Facebook pages and getting the word out through word of mouth, Cheung explained.

“We want to publicize the event without saturating the information," Cheung said. "We do not want to annoy people because we’re trying to fundraise too much.”

Because the first Fenway Spring Fundraiser was last year, now is the time for LCS to explore whether the event could be viable as a permanent occurrence, according to Cheung.

“We are trying to work out ... the kinks to make the event run as smoothly as possible, as well as gauging the student interest as to whether this would be a permanently successful event,” Cheung said.

This year, the fundraiser may also serve as a replacement to the traditional trip to Fenway Park organized for seniors during Senior Week, which will not occur because the Red Sox are out of town.

“It's ... a great way for the seniors to be able to watch a Red Sox game with their friends, as they won’t be able to do so later on," she said.

Bast added how the proceeds from last year also went to the Somerville Homeless Coalition. He explained that LCS works with a number of organizations through its many programs, and smaller fundraisers are often paired with different organizations depending on need. Previous LCS fundraisers have benefited organizations including RESPOND, Inc., Spare Change News, and the Community Action Agency of Somerville.

“The event is going to be a lot of fun,” Bast said. “It’s a great opportunity for students to get off campus with their friends. It’s also a great opportunity to see a bit of Boston culture and, for the seniors, to see a game with their friends rather than during Senior Week.”