Cancer Awareness Week: Bid For Program of The Year 2010
Cancer Awareness Week: Bid For Program of The Year 2010
Cancer Awareness Week: Bid For Program of The Year 2010
Bid for Program of the Year 2010 Color Out Cancer North Dakota State University
Table of Contents
Letter..............................................................................................................................................2 Overview........................................................................................................................................3 Goals...............................................................................................................................................4 Fundamentals................................................................................................................................5 Promotions.................................................................................................................................6 Support........................................................................................................................................7 Fundraising.................................................................................................................................8 Philanthropy...............................................................................................................................9 Schedule........................................................................................................................................10 Application....................................................................................................................................11 Planning and Preparation.....................................................................................................12-13 Helpful Inserts..............................................................................................................................14 Budget...........................................................................................................................................15 Uniqueness...................................................................................................................................16 Involvement.................................................................................................................................17 Evaluation....................................................................................................................................18 Letters of Recommendation.................................................................................................19-20
September 27, 2010 Dear MACURH PCCs, As students of North Dakota State University and as a Residence Hall Association we are honored to present Cancer Awareness Week as our nomination for Program of the Year. This program was able to bring North Dakota State Universitys campus together in a fun and creative way to promote cancer awareness and to battle the disease that has had an impact on so many students directly or indirectly. This program was developed in the Spring of 2010 by Weible Hall Government. Upon completion and review, it was decided that due to the programs success and impact, this program would be a Weible Hall annual program. Cancer Awareness Week implemented the elements of promotions, philanthropy, and support in order to complete numerous events. The focus was to, as a university, show our support for all the lives cancer has affected. It provided students with a unique opportunity to give back through many different activities. Cancer Awareness Week because of its undeniable success, creativity, magnitude, and plethora of goals deserves to be considered for Program of the Year. It focused on the idea that a program can be something more than just a fun gathering. A program has the opportunity to unite people for a common cause and even to make a difference in the lives of students and staff that participate in it. It is not all that often that a program has the ability to tug on ones heartstrings or that every student participating can somehow relate to it; we strongly believe that Cancer Awareness Week had the ability to accomplish both of these aspects. This bid displays the enormous amount of effort that was placed into this program and how ultimately that effort resulted in a program that greatly impacted and unified the North Dakota State University student body. The bid is sectioned into a weekly schedule and a break-down of each activity, goals of the program, a budget and a program evaluation. All of these will help to further develop the reasoning behind why this program was so successful. As a Residence Hall Association and as students of North Dakota State University, we are proud and excited to present the following Cancer Awareness Week bid as our Program of the Year. Sincerely, Alex Ringhofer Weible President 2009-2010 Alyssa Lipsiea Vice President 2009-2010 Katie Borts Floor Representative 2009-2010
Overview
We believe that at North Dakota State University all of the programs that our residence halls produce should successfully reflect our Residence Life mission. Our mission is, the Department of Residence Life supports students by providing a vibrant, healthy place to live and learn. Our program successfully modeled this mission by portraying a vibrant and positive perspective on a sensitive issue. It is important to be open to organizing programs that focus on subjects that affect the personal lives of our students. By having addressed a disease such as cancer within the halls, we display our support and compassion for the residents that live there. Our program strove to give students a chance to give back financially and to participate in many activities that brought about cancer awareness. The enormous amount of activities that took place allowed for relationships to be formed and more unity to be created within Weible Hall; however, the magnitude of the program and the many aspects involved extended beyond the residence hall and into the University. Participation occurred from business offices, university custodians, and from students living in all residence halls on campus. The concept of Cancer Awareness Week was developed in January of 2010. Once the motion was passed, the planning aspect began on February 20th of 2010. The work was divided amongst a hall government of eighteen girls. It was decided that the program would focus on the aspects of promotion, support, fundraising, and philanthropy. The events began on Sunday, April 25, 2010 and concluded on Friday April 30th. Nearly fifty large posters were created and hung within each residence hall. This gave students the opportunity to preview the events that they could attend and gave them a chance to view a schedule of the events by day. Each day offered a variety of activities and a chance for students to be involved with the program. Students also had the opportunity to visually show their support for the program by wearing the Bison Strong Bracelets they purchased and the cancer awareness ribbons that were provided. As the number of bracelets sold continued to magnify the overall feeling of student support for the program became even more apparent. The program was broken up by days, Sunday through Friday. Schedules were posted throughout the Residence Halls displaying the daily events. A majority of the events were held within Weible Hall, but all were made available to on-campus students through invitation. The events were held at a variety of different times to accommodate the busy schedules of students. There were also events that focused on hall unity, such as bathroom decorating. These programs helped facilitate relationships amongst residents and make Weible Hall a healthier and more relationship-based residence hall.
Promotions
Promotions focused on producing advertising for Cancer Awareness Week and to keep students up-to-date on daily events.
1. Window DecoratingWeible Hall Government decorated approximately thirty windows within Weible Hall and in the hallways of the entrance to the main dining center. The windows were brightly colored to attract attention to the events and also contained helpful information. For instance, some displayed a weekly schedule of events and others exhibited mega-sized cancer awareness ribbons and which cancer each color ribbon represented. 2. Toilet Talk Toilet Talk is a weekly bathroom bulletin that is displayed within Weible Halls bathroom stalls. Typically it is created by Resident Assistants, but for Cancer Awareness Week it was created by the Weible Hall Government President. It contained promotions regarding the weeks events, 10 reasons to Relay, and a list of the days of the week and which cancer related color residents could wear to show their support for that day. 3. Advertising PostersWeible Hall Government dedicated time to creating posters to advertise to residents about Cancer Awareness Week. Each hall was presented with a five foot long banner that displayed every event that would be occurring. In addition many separate posters were created with time, locations, prices of raffle tickets, and many other pieces of important information.
4. Bulletin Boards A select amount of the bulletin boards within Weible Hall were decorated with Cancer Awareness Week information. They were brightly colored in order to attract attention to the events.
Support
Allowed students to show their support of the program and to be actively involved with the weeks events.
1. Bathroom Decorating ContestThis contest was developed to create unity amongst the floors. Each floor in Weible was given from Sunday, April 25th until Tuesday April 27th to decorate their bathroom with a cancer awareness related theme. Rules and regulations were e-mailed and each floor was given supplies to help them begin their decorating. The winning floor received an ice cream social to commend their efforts. Other hall directors were brought in for judging to help prevent any biases.
2. Door Decorating Contest The door decorating contest was an opportunity for residents to recognize a person in their life who has been affected by cancer. It allowed for creativity and for residents to visually see how many women within the hall have somehow been touched by cancer. The door decorating winners were given gift cards to commend their outstanding support. Two hall government members were given the honor of judging this event.
3. Cancer Related Movies Throughout the week students were given the chance to watch cancer related movies on the North Dakota State University movie channel and through the Campus Life Cinema, located in the Memorial Union. These films included: Stepmom, A Walk to Remember, and The Bucket List. The Weible lounge was available at 9:00 pm on movie evenings so that residents had a place to gather. There was also lemonade and popcorn provided to enhance residents movie experience. These movie nights gave students the opportunity to bond and spend time with each other.
Fundraising
Fundraising was a crucial part of Cancer Awareness Week because it gave students an opportunity to give back in the fight against cancer. Within our fundraising one hundred percent of the proceeds were donated to the American Cancer Society.
1. Pie Your Resident Assistant Pie your RA was an aspect that helped to bring the element of fun into Cancer Awareness Week. Students were able to pie their RA for a one dollar fee.
2. Bracelets Each day a stand was set up outside of the main dining center from the hours of 11 am to 1 pm and 5 pm to 7 pm, to allow for maximum event exposure. During these hours students were given the opportunity to purchase Bison Strong Bracelets. These resembled the incredibly popular Lance Armstrong Livestrong bracelets but incorporated North Dakota State Universitys school colors. 3. Raffle At the same table that the Bison Strong Bracelets were being sold, students also had the opportunity to purchase Cancer Awareness Week raffle tickets. The tickets were all entered in a drawing. It was held in Weible Hall and all winners were contacted to pick-up their prizes. 4. Cancer awareness ribbons The final item available at the table outside the main dining center was cancer awareness ribbons. There were many colors to represent the many types of cancer. These ribbons were free to students. We wanted these to be available so that no student was limited by financial means from visually displaying their support for Cancer Awareness Week.
Philanthropy
It was important for there to be aspects of our program that focused on the physical giving back in the fight against cancer.
1. Project Linus Weible residents were given the opportunity to make fleece tie blankets to donate to the non-profit organization Project Linus. They donate the given blankets to children battling cancer. All of the fleece was provided for residents so that all they needed to be willing to donate was their own time.
2. Relay for Life The Cancer Awareness Week program was concluded with the 2010 North Dakota State Relay for Life. Weible had two teams of 15 girls attend the Relay and take part in its events. At the event freezies were handed out to show our appreciation for participation. Also, Lifesaver candies were handed out with little notes saying, Thank you for being a lifesaver!
Tuesday 4/27
Wednesday 4/28
Orange: Leukemia
Thursday 4/29
Friday 4/30
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Application
According to the American Cancer Society the chance of a male being diagnosed with cancer in his lifetime is 1 in 2 and for females the ratio is 1 in 3. Cancer is applicable to all universitys in all areas of the United States.
Cancer Awareness Week is a program that nearly all students can emotionally connect to in some way. It is a subject that needs to be talked about and residence hall programs present a functional way of going about that. However, residents, governments, and others must be aware of the extensive planning that goes into an event such as this. If a proper amount of time is not allotted for planning the event may not be as successful as it has the potential to be. We suggest that the planning begins around three months prior to the start of the event.
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Examine funding sources and your halls budget to see where money can be allocated from If money needs to be requested from larger groups such as Residence Hall Association, plan presentations and schedule a time to meet with that group Decide on events for your Cancer Awareness Week Discuss the possibility of creating Residence Hall teams to participate in the Relay for Life and make the sign-up for these teams available for residents to access so they can begin individual fundraising
Consider other ways to be actively involved at the Relay, for instance, purchasing LifeSaver candy to hand out at the event Begin contacting businesses for any donations necessary and the best way to go about this is to write a letter requesting the donation and deliver it to the business Look into the permit policy for the raffle both for your university and the city in which it is located (Generally, policies for a raffle can be found in the schools Student Code of Conduct) If you desire to order items such as raffle tickets or support bracelets online, begin process early enough to meet shipping deadlines
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Solidify the events that you intend to put on for your program and begin formatting the events into a schedule If any events require judging of any kind, for example, bathroom or door decorating contests, create guidelines, judging criteria, recruit judges, and allocate prizes for winners if desired * Ask your Resident Assistants for any help you may need throughout the week. Possibilities include, volunteering for pie your RA or donating their time. Begin purchasing non-perishable supplies for the events
Begin advertising such as creating posters, painting windows, and decorating bulletin boards Plan schedules for government members so that raffle ticket, bracelet selling, pie your RA, and other events are adequately facilitated Train in anyone responsible for helping sell items on how to properly document all money and raffle ticket sales A few days prior to the programs, begin purchasing all perishable items such as Cool Whip for pie your RA
With proper planning and preparation, your Government will be able to reap the successes of all of their hard work!
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Helpful Inserts
Sample donation request letter: Dear, (Name of Business) (Name of your Hall) at (Name of your University), is putting together a team for the Relay for Life. As a fundraiser, we are having an all campus raffle where all the profits will be donated to the American Cancer Society! We are looking for local businesses to donate gift cards/certificates, items from their business, coupons, and anything they have to offer. This event will help to bring us together as a (Name of Your University) campus, and we are excited to partner with local businesses. If donating to us is an opportunity that your business is excited about please contact either of the two contacts listed below. If you could please let us know within the next two to three weeks we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much for your time and support. Sincerely, (Your Team) and (Your University) (Your contact information)
Bathroom Decorating Guidelines 1. No writing on the mirrors 2. No decorating within the shower stalls 3. No decorating within the bathroom stalls Judging Criteria 1. Creativity 2. Amount of cancer awareness related information 3. Quality of cancer awareness related information 4.Coloful 5. The most-fun bathroom 6. Level of participation from all floor members Judges: Hall director, Hall Government Liason, and Mystery Judge
Door Decorating Guidelines 1. Cannot cover more than 25 % of the door (to adhere with fire-code) 2. Approriateness 3. Started and finished within designated timeline Judging Criteria 1. Originality 2. How personal the door was in regards to it being in honor or in memory of someone the resident knows. 3. Quality of decorating Judges: Two Floor Representatives
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Budget
FUNDS Allocations Weible Hall Government Residence Hall Association Donations Gift Cards Applebees (2@$10.00) NDSU Bookstore Jimmy Johns (2@$10.00) Jitterz (2@$10.00) Sandellas (6 Coupons) EXPENDITURES Philanthropy Linus Blankets Fleece Relay for Life Lifesavers ICE-EEs Support Bathroom Decorating Glitter Glue Construction Paper Tape Markers Movie Nights Popcorn Popcorn Seasonings Juice Mix Returned Popcorn EXPENDITURES (continued) $1,000.00 $480 Promotions Window Advertisements $1,480.00 Window Paint Cancer Ribbons Ribbon Safety Pins Fundraising Pie Your RA Tarps (2) $1,580.00 Pie Tins Whip Cream Bracelets BisonStrong Bracelets Raffle Printed Raffle Tickets $1463.20 TV Movie Package The Hangover $1438.52 Popcorn Gift Card Package 1 ($60.00) Applebees (1) NDSU Bookstore Jimmy Johns (1) Jitterz (1) Sandellas (3 Coupons) $1367.75 Gift Card Package 2 ($40.00) Applebees (1) Jimmy Johns (1) Jitterz (1) Sandellas (3 Coupons) $1327.91
($19.76) ($14.00) ($50.14) $1172.97 ($360.00) $812.97 ($192.12) ($460.09) $160.76 ($19.96) ($3.68) $137.12 ($10.00) ($20.00) ($10.00) ($10.00) ($10.00) $77.12 ($10.00) ($10.00) ($10.00) ($10.00) $37.12
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Uniqueness
A program that begins...
100% of proceeds went to the American Cancer Society the program is versatile in the organization it supports big program for First-Year Residence hall program incorporated the entire student body
program had the ability to build up excitement for a philanthropy event occuring on campus This event provided students with the example that philanthropy is not always traveling to a volunteer site, but that philanthropy can be providing others with an opportunity to give back. This program provides school spirit by building up anticipation and heavily promoting a school-wide event.
experiences, that bring together a hall This event can literally be applied to any University in an area of the country. Offered many activities and events so that all residents had the opportunity to be involved. The raffle and bracelets sales we opened to all of campus. This brought together groups of people that are normally seperated from each other such as, residence halls, off-campus students, hall directors, dining services and unite a campus... FOR A CAUSE. staff, residence life directors, faculty, and custodians.
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Involvement
This program was completely developed by the freshman Hall Government women of Weible Hall. The team consisted of eighteen women with assistance from their hall director. She helped guide them through the discussion process of planning the program. It evolved from an idea to produce a program that targets cancer and quickly became a week long program that would collaborate with the efforts of the North Dakota State University Relay for Life. The American Cancer Society benefitted from all the money and time donations that they received from this program. However, the true benefitters were the students and staff of North Dakota State University who were given the chance to give back to such a worth-while organization. We benefitted from the unity the program created and the incredible opportunity we had to change lives and show support for those around us. We learned through this program that while cancer is such a limiting disease there are so many things that we as a campus will not let it do!
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Evaluation
PROS Cancer Awareness Week was a chance for not only Weible Hall, but all the residence Halls and students to gather around and support a larger organization. The program gave students a opportunity to give back in many ways and showed that philanthropy can be carried out in a fun and exciting ways. This special week allowed students the opportunity to open up to each other on an emotional level. Stories of how cancer had affected students lives began to unfold throughout the week through the activities. It also held special meaning to the North Dakota State Universitys womens basketball team, as one of their players was battling cancer during this time-frame. The program built unity amongst many different groups of people, including: Weible Hall, Weible Hall Government, Residence Halls as a whole, staff, students, and philanthropy organizations on the North Dakota State University campus. One of the major benefits of this program is that student support for it still continues into this fall of 2010 school year. This is displayed by students who still continue to wear cancer awareness ribbons on their backpack and Bison Strong Bracelets on their wrists. As a survivor of breast cancer, I just want to say thank you to all the ladies of Weible for your support during Cancer Awareness Week. Love seeing all the signs! -Anita Welch (Weibles Faculty Mentor) April 25, 2010
I havent taken my Bison Strong Bracelet off since the event. -Max Casper (NDSU Student/Baseball Player) October 1, 2010
CONS We as a group did not understand the time constraints in regards to raffle permits and other various deadlines. If we had not met the deadlines our program would have been drastically altered at the last minute. We were very fortunate to barely meet the deadlines, but we see now we should have begun the entire process sooner. As this project was being developed our Hall Government planned the week ambitiously. However, we didnt always comprehend the amount of time we would need to invest in the program as individuals. At time there were priority conflicts that determined whether or not a person was available to help make posters, sell bracelets, and other activities. We understand now that every single member of the group needed to be fully committed and willing to sacrifice time in order to make the event as successful as possible. Some of our programs while fun, were not always practical. Early on in the planning stages our government knew that we wanted to donate one-hundred percent of our donations to the American Cancer Society. When we conducted the program Pie your RA we didnt consider that they money we would spend on supplies could possibly outweigh the money we received in donations for the event. Looking back, it would have been more cost efficient to put an activity in place that cost us less money upfront.
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