Up til Dawn raises money for cancer research center

Quite a few ULM students went to jail last week. Well, sort of.
Last Thursday and Friday students got a chance to participate in Capture the Cure – an annual fundraising event hosted by Up ‘til Dawn, which was held in the Quad.
Students temporarily turned into jail birds as they walked around in a cardboard jail cell and asked for donations from their fellow students to ‘bail’ them out. Generally, students set their bail at $20, which normally took about 20 minutes to earn.
“I donated because it’s a good cause. I think that St. Jude really makes a difference in young kids’ lives,” said Alayna Phillips, a sophomore kinesiology major from Dry Prong.
Up ‘til Dawn is an organization designed to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Students form teams and compete in different fundraising activities throughout the year to help kids fight cancer.
More than 500 team members participated in these fundraising activities.
“It’s that feeling of hope and the knowledge that you can make a difference in someone’s life that makes it all worthwhile,” said Samantha Carr, a senior pharmacy major from Broussard and last year’s social chair for the organization.
The organization has been on ULM’s campus for over six years, and this year, the goal was to raise $35,000.
ULM’s branch of The Up ‘til Dawn ranks among the top 10 Up ‘til Dawns in the nation.
“I think it’s a very worthy cause to donate to. Up ‘til Dawn gives students, in particular, the opportunity to do it,” said Shelby Wright, a junior music major from Monroe and Up ‘til Dawn’s entertainment chair.