Alpha Phi and Kappa Alpha Order hosted a cookout on April 30 to support women’s cardiac health and to earn money to send children with muscular dystrophy to camp.
Shelby Emerson, education sophomore, said, “We’ve gotten positive feedback. Students think it’s a really cool idea. I think they’re going to have a good time.”
Brian Warren, business finance junior, also said it was a good first year event.
“We only had a month to prepare, so with that time limit, I’d say it was a success,” Warren said.
Alpha Phi spent $1,000 of chapter dues to purchase decorations, hamburgers, hot dogs, bounce house rentals, and marketing supplies. Emerson said it was worth spending so much money on the event.
“People are having fun, and it’s nice being able to help women’s cardiac health and the Muscular Dystrophy Association,” Emerson said.
The event received positive feedback from students. Emilie Harris, education sophomore, said she had a fun time and enjoyed the games and food.
“I’ve eaten some great chili, I’ve gotten to play corn hole, which I love, and I got to throw the football around with some friends. It’s been awesome,” Harris said.
Jordan Wright, music graduate, said she had fun supporting her sorority, and the charities they’re hosting for. She also liked getting to visit with her sorority sisters.
“I think it’s been great. I drove two hours to get here, and I have no regrets coming. It’s been good company, good food, good weather, everything has come together nicely,” Wright said.
Logan Lafoon, radiology science senior, was invited by one of his friends to the event and said he had fun as well.
“It’s been pretty fun. As someone who works in the medical field, I love being able to help wherever I can, and this is a fun way to do it. I also liked being able to play a full hour of corn hole,” Lafoon said.
While the event was a success overall, there was a downfall. They were able to successfully reach the students, but due to lack of advertising, they weren’t able to get the Wichita Falls community to come out.
“We need more marketing materials for the cookout next fall. This was a pretty good turnout, but we want the community to come out, not just Midwestern State,” Emerson said.
Harris also said more marketing would’ve been nice.
“I want to see more people next time. This is fun, but I wish more people knew about it,” Harris said.
The low marketing showed since Emerson said they wanted to have 100 people attend but were only able to get about 60 people.
“If we had more marketing, we could’ve easily reached that goal. Hopefully we are able to get more the next time around,” Warren said.
Emerson also said they could’ve had more activities. She said she wants more stuff to do at the cookout next fall. Warren also said the event would’ve been bigger if they had more planning.
“If we had like two or three more months, we would’ve been able to make it a lot better,” Warren said.
Warren also said they weren’t able to reach their fundraising goal. They wanted to raise $4,000, but only raised $2,500, and $1,100 of that went to the charities. While they did have some problems, they said it was a success overall, and they will be able to make the next cookout a much bigger success when they have more planning.