May 3, 2012
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Campaign to watch: ballroom blitz

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campaign: Susquehanna University charity: ball 2012
campaign goal:$5,000
has been fundraising since: April 18, 2012
mission statement: “The first annual Susquehanna University charity: ball, taking place in Evert Dining Hall on April 14th, 2012 at 9pm. Tickets are $20 each and for every ticket sold, one person will get clean water in a developing nation for 20 years.”

SU photobooth

Susquehanna University student Brian Maehl is making clean water a top priority while also juggling his studies and activities. Brian started up a charity: water club on campus that fundraises for clean water. This month, the club hosted their own charity: ball. We talked with Brian to hear his thoughts on their mission:

You started a club on campus… how does it work?
The mission of our club is to raise awareness of the world water crisis and support for the charity: water organization. We are dedicated to maintaining charity: water’s 100% mission, where 100% of all money raised goes directly to the organization to fund water projects.

We use funds from the Student Government Association and outside benefactors to cover all expenses of the club. Therefore there are two accounts for our club in the Finance Office: one for operations and one for fundraising. This year has just been the club’s first year on campus, and it has grown extremely rapidly, with nearly all students learning about the charity: water organization in just its first year.

Tell us about the big event — the Susquehanna University charity: ball:
Over 150 people attended the ball, which featured charity: water exhibits, dancing, dessert, a photo-shoot, and a WaterWalk. As of now, we have raised over $3,000! We are also awaiting a sponsorship through a club member connection that will increase our total even more.

Brian and Matt

One of our exhibits was similar to the Rachel Beckwith exhibit at the NYC charity: ball to honor Rachel and to share her story with Susquehanna. For another exhibit, we were very limited with our options and had to get creative. We filled an aquarium with water and sold glow sticks to guests, with each color glow stick representing a different dollar amount. The guests would put the glow stick in the tank to symbolize their donation to charity: water. We had a few laptops on hand for those that wanted to make donations of more than $20 to the ball campaign.

The WaterWalk got over 250 walks throughout the course of the night, and for every walk, $1 was donated from an outside sponsor to charity: water. Groups of students and faculty members cheered each other on to complete the walks. Whenever the walks hit a monumental amount (50, 100, etc.) a club member would tell the DJ and an announcement would be made all guests.

We also had a slide show running on a large projector screen at the front of the room that showed photos from people in developing nations and shared ways to become involved.

One of the biggest attention-getters of the evening was the photobooth that was run by our amazing event photographer, Tierney Ayers of Tierney Cyanne Photography. Students had an absolute blast taking photos in different poses with the Jerry cans. The photos are still swarming all around Facebook and social media sites, raising awareness for countless people that have viewed the photos and our club Facebook page. We even had our Dean of Students, Student Activities Coordinator, Associate Director of Admissions, and Assistant Director of Residence Life for Student Conduct take photos with Jerry cans!

photos: Tierney Cyanne Photography, Laura Christine Photography

Susquehanna University charity: ball

Host a ball, bike across the country — you can do anything to fundraise for clean water! Learn more here >

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  • Guest

    Being involved in making this happen has really shaped my year. I’m so thankful that I got the opportunity to work with everyone and hope we not only keep having charity: balls on campus here, but that other groups start hosting their own as well. charity: water is one of those organizations that show people how big of an impact they can have on the world and how solving problems like the water crisis isn’t about politics or billion dollar organizations, it’s about every day people taking those steps of raising awareness and then taking things into their own hands. charity: water reminds everyone that every dollar truly does counts and changes lives.

  • Becky

    It was amazing to see the charity: water club at Susquehanna University grow so quickly in its first year. The student body is obviously committed to doing their part to end the water crisis. I can’t give enough thanks to the university, community, and club members that have made the club’s efforts so successful and rewarding this year. Its great to know that even through the small donations that college students can afford, we are able to help improve the lives of others through giving the gift of water.