Camp Kesem Augustana raised $2,673 at its second annual Trivia Night on Feb. 8 for camp this summer.
Augustana students organized fundraisers throughout the night. Trivia Night is one of the larger fundraisers students host each year. The profits from Trivia Night brought the organization closer to this year’s fundraising goal of $50,000.
The trivia night took place at the Viking Club in Moline.
“[The trivia] was 10 rounds with 10 questions in each round,” said junior and Camp Kesem Augustana fundraising chair, Jenna Riordan. “There was also a silent auction, bake sale, 50/50 raffle and heads or tails game.” Riordan planned and organized the event.
The silent auction had items ranging from homemade scarves to autographed hockey pucks from the Chicago Blackhawks. Sophomore and Camp Kesem outreach coordinator Courtney Tate led the heads or tails fundraiser. Participants place a dollar bill on either their head or rear, guessing which way the coin Tate flips will land. When participants are incorrect, they donate the gambled money.
Members of the Augustana community and the local community came out to support the cause.
Augustana Professor of Education Randall Hengst bought two tables for the education department. Two Augustana sororities, Chi Alpha Pi and Sigma Pi Delta, participated in Trivia Night with the purchase of tables and donation of baskets for the silent auction.
9 of the 11 trivia tables pre-purchased online were made up of members from the Quad City community. One of the trivia night tables included one of the families that attend Camp Kesem Augustana. The two children helped student volunteers with different fundraisers throughout the night and spoke to the crowd to commence the evening.
Greg Aguilar, former director of multicultural services at Augustana, was emcee for the evening for the second year in a row.
The Viking Club offered Camp Kesem Augustana the venue for free if it was able to make $600 at the cash bar. With the help of the trivia night participants, this goal was reached.
“It was so much fun; everyone was having such a good time,” said Riordan. “It was a really generous atmosphere and everyone was willing to give and do whatever it took to help us raise money.”
“I have been to a lot of trivia nights with my family,” said junior and trivia night participant Ingrid Schneider. “Most of the time trivia nights can get really competitive, but with the good atmosphere of Camp Kesem and the reasons you are there it was a lot more fun and a lot less intense.”
Camp Kesem is a national organization that recognizes and embraces children affected by a parent’s cancer. The nonprofit organization provides a free, weeklong summer camp for these children with 54 active chapters nationwide. The Augustana chapter of Camp Kesem will be holding its third year of camp in the summer of 2014.