The Hillsdale College community exercised its generosity in the last week of February when the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and the women’s soccer club each successfully hosted a charitable silent auction.
The SAAC fundraiser took place from Feb. 24 to 27 and raised $923 for the Kay Yow Cancer fund. The soccer club auction, which happened over parents’ weekend on Feb. 28 and March 1, managed to raise funds to fill team needs while pledging $500 each to two charities: Domestic Harmony, which supports survivors of domestic violence, and Kelly’s Home, a charity dedicated to building houses for families in need.
The SAAC fundraiser was part of Hillsdale’s Pink Wave event for breast cancer awareness. According to senior Lindsay Kostrzewa, SAAC president, this was the first year that Pink Wave was staged entirely at Hillsdale.
“Traditionally the GLIAC has sponsored the Pink Wave event, but last year they announced they wouldn’t be running it anymore,” Kostrzewa said.
Organizing Pink Wave locally allowed the SAAC to donate 100 percent of the fundraiser’s proceeds to the Kay Yow Cancer fund.
For their fundraiser, the SAAC auctioned off items and lessons from Charger athletes, including a tennis lesson that sold for $100, as well as items donated by local businesses.
“We had many gift cards and items such as a mug, a watch, hair products, a tool set,” said Kostrzewa, citing businesses like Udderside, Broadstreet Downtown Market, and Checker Records. “They were all very generous and eager to contribute.”
The women’s soccer club also benefitted greatly from the generosity of local businesses, according to sophomore Macaela Bennett, soccer club treasurer, who went door to door at establishments in Hillsdale, Jonesville, and Coldwater to solicit donations.
“All of them were super excited to give and extremely generous,” Bennett said. “I can’t even describe how kind the business owners were when we came in to explain what we were doing.”
The two organizations were happy with the success of the events.
“Monetarily, we increased our profits by 50 percent from last year,” said Gena Oster, the president of the soccer club. “I’m really proud of everyone on the team and everyone who contributed.”
Both Oster and Kostrzewa hope to replicate these successes in the future.
“Considering the importance of giving back to the community,” Oster said, “we’re hoping to make this an annual thing.”
