Planning for any event can become a taxing endeavor; senior communication major Anne Hague can sweat off the stress on race day for her sorority’s 7th Annual 5KD Shamrock Event.
“The planning is all I’ve thought about for three months,” she said. “I hope it’s the biggest year yet.”
She and the rest of the ladies of Kappa Delta anticipate the race on Saturday, March 27, which benefits Prevent Child Abuse America and its local affiliate, NRV Cares.
For the second year in a row, the race will be held at the cross-country course on campus.
Hague said the previous six Shamrock races have raised more than $30,000 for PCAA, with a significant portion going to NRV Cares. Her goal this year is $6,000, a figure she believes is possible after seeing initial registration numbers.
Bev Walters, the executive director of NRV Cares, has been involved with the Shamrock event for the last four races.
“It’s a wonderful fundraiser for us,” she said.
Walters said the funding is important because NRV Cares is the local child abuse prevention and intervention agency for the New River Valley area — a region Walters identified with high child abuse rates.
“Child abuse in the state of Virginia is calculated by the number of abused or neglected children as identified by the court per 1,000 children in the population,” she said. “The state’s rate is 4.5 children per 1,000 in the population. Giles County is 23.5. Pulaski County is at 22. The average rate for the entire New River Valley is 13 … so every locality in the NRV is above the state rate.”
Walters said that the money from the race provided to NRV Cares will go toward community education projects, “parenting young children” courses and appointing volunteers to the CASA program, which helps find safe homes for neglected children.
Sophomore communication major Courtney Pence said that the sisters of Kappa Delta enjoy the experience of working with NRV Cares.
“We do have a problem in this area so the money we raise affects people living here around Blacksburg, which is kind of cool,” she said.
“We have really high expectations,” Mercer said. “I think we’re going to have really strong attendance this year because everyone understands what an important cause it is.”
A new addition to the event — a pasta party Friday night at Abella Cafe — will help boost fundraising totals. Planning committee co-chair Megan Mercer, a senior English major, said the idea came from a survey taken on ways to improve the philanthropy after last year’s race.
“Something that came out of it was that so many Greek fundraisers for philanthropies are week-long events, but we only have one day,” she said. “Having another event offers another opportunity to make more money.”
Kappa Delta has arranged for a DJ to play at the dinner and will be holding a silent auction. Tickets for the dinner are $5 with 25 percent of the proceeds going to NRV Cares.
Pence will be one of the many Kappa Deltas busy setting up the race on Saturday morning. In addition to marking the course, manning the registration booths and passing out shirts, sisters will also be coaching Greek organization teams competing in the “Greek Gauntlet” for points.
One of the ways teams gain points is to dress in theme. Hague said the costumes are one of the reasons for the enjoyable atmosphere.
“Last year some people did ‘The Flintstones,’ running around in a car they made. It was really funny,” she said. “We’re having fun with this event; it’s the name of the game.”
With goofy costumes and all, Mercer hopes this will be the biggest fundraising event of the year