Alpha Epsilon in Action

The Kid's Carnival
By: Sharon Groat

The idea first formed in the fall, but it wasn't until the spring that the idea truly took shape. We chose a March 25, and then had the weather channel tell us that rain was likely. Thankfully, Saturday was sunny and not raining as we had feared. With the sun out and games aplenty, the first annual St. Jude's Kids Carnival was underway.

Preparations had begun months earlier. We made the games ourselves, painting and nailing and putting fabric up. In the end, we constructed numerous games including: Duck Pond, Gone Fishin', Cake Walk, Clown Toss, Bean Bag Toss, Basketball Toss, and Needle in a Haystack. Along with these games, we had Hula Hoop contests and Sack Races. For each game, there were prizes awarded, and the kids quickly figured out which prizes were really good and accordingly played those games that had those toys available. Boy, kids are a lot smarter than you give them credit for!

We were also lucky enough to have a moonwalk that was donated by a local business - the Skate Place. The kids really enjoyed the ride and some spent all day jumping. The moonwalk was quite large and called attention to the festivities, which brought in more people.

The University of Mississippi chapter of ASP hosted a dunking booth, which attracted the pharmacy students out for the day. Many faculty volunteered to be dunked for the cause, and three "dunkies" even matched donations with the number of times they were dunked. This booth brought in a large amount of money for the cause and was very exciting to watch. The kids loved the big splashes that the faculty made when they were dunked.
Along with the dunking booth, games, and moonwalk, we also served food to the families present. A cook volunteered his grill and his time to the cause and cooked up some excellent hamburgers and hotdogs for the masses. We also sold potato chips, candy, and beverages. As this was our first time taking on such a large event, we had chips and candy leftover. However, we managed to use them at future events like spaghetti lunches and other get-togethers.

The St. Jude's Kids Carnival was a wonderful opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause and also bring out the community. Along with the carnival, we also put up a poison prevention poster with brochures, as the event coincided with Poison Prevention Week. Along with bringing out the community, we also managed to involve all the members of our chapter in the preparation and putting on of the carnival. The event was a complete success - the children had a wonderful time, and we raised just over $1000 for St. Jude's. Hopefully next year, the St. Jude's Kids Carnival will be put on again with the same successful results.


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