Many students have spent the month visiting haunted houses, browsing through Halloween costumes and watching scary movies. But Andrew Blackard, senior physical education major, has spent October printing flyers, calling potential donators, counting money and instilling an eagerness to serve into many of his friends and family members.
Blackard serves as the signature event chair for Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, which means he oversees all of the details of Halloweek.
Halloweek will begin Monday, Oct. 27 and concludes on Friday, Oct. 31. All proceeds from the week of events will be donated to the American Heart Association.
Blackard said the week will kick off with a spaghetti dinner in the Bowld from 5 to 8 p.m. All members will be selling tickets for $5.
On Thursday, Oct. 30, students who eat at Moe’s Southwestern Grill from 6 to 9 p.m. and mention “Halloweek” will have ten percent of their meal price donated to the American Heart Association.
“We wanted to do something to include the entire community – anyone who wants to help out can go there and have dinner and know that they have helped raise money,” said Cody Croom, senior accounting major.
Croom said the American Heart Association is something very special to their chapter of the fraternity.
“A brother in the fraternity was diagnosed with a rare heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, two years ago,” he said. “We decided after that, that we all wanted to do something to help not only him, but also many others who suffer from heart diseases.”
“This event is just another fundraiser to most people at Union, but to me it is one of the most exciting events of the year,” said Stephen Hauss, enrollment counsellor and alumnus of the chapter. “It is one of the few moments that I find true purpose in my disease.”
Tickets to the spaghetti dinner will be sold at a table outside of Brewer Dining Hall until Monday, and t-shirts will be sold all week long. Thursday’s event at Moe’s will be followed by an open party, and donations will be accepted all week.
