Up Till Dawn Fundraiser Rebrands Itself as Hudson Rally for St. Jude
St Jude members offering food to those who sign up for the club. Photo by Julianna Lindquist '23
Despite a campus full of clubs, the “St. Jude: Up Till Dawn” event is one of the most popular activities amongst students. Members of the executive board are now capitalizing on that popularity to connect the national event directly to the Hudson Valley. The club is rebranding itself as “Hudson Rally for St. Jude”.
Julianna Lindquist ‘23 is a member of St. Jude’s Marist chapter’s executive board as one of the club’s recruitment directors. Her job is to help recruit students to fundraise for St. Jude and to eventually attend the club’s main event, the “Hudson Rally for St. Jude”.
St. Jude raises money to fund pediatric cancer research and help children cope with living with cancer. The thousands of dollars raised by the “Hudson Rally for St. Jude” contributes to the $5 million raised annually by the 250 college chapters across America.
St. Jude wanted the name changed to better reflect the Marist community. With an ambassador on the chapter’s executive board, St. Jude oversees the club and the “Hudson Rally for St. Jude” event. St. Jude will also occasionally give merchandise to the club to help encourage fundraising.
The board ultimately agreed with renaming the event “Hudson Rally for St. Jude” because they feel that the Hudson is a unique part of the Marist community.
St. Jude’s main event each semester is the “Hudson Rally” where students stay up all night to celebrate the fundraising and raise further awareness. Despite the name change, the board hopes to keep the event similar to previous years. The event symbolizes that no child should die at the dawn of life. Furthermore, Lindquist explains how staying up all night represents the lost sleep that parents experience when their child is sick.
The club hopes to focus on recruitment and fundraising events before the “Hudson Rally” in mid-November. Getting involved in the “Hudson Rally” is quite easy as the club has been setting up recruitment tables throughout campus. The club has even given away free coffee and donuts to motivate students to join.
St Jude members raising awareness for the event by holding up posters. Photo by Julianna Lindquist '23