Students play pong for Make-A-Wish Foundation

Students showed off their shooting skills at Gatorfest II on Thursday, April 24, while raising money for a good cause. This was the second Gatorfest that the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) held this year to help raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Each team paid $10 to enter the competition which consisted of a "beer pong" tournament with the cups filled with Gatorade instead of beer. Volleyball Coach Sharon Bonaventure, who is in charge of the Franklin Pierce SAAC, said, "It was great. There were members of the student body from all walks of life." Before the games began, SAAC President Rob Perretta, spoke about SAAC and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There was also music to get some of the participants dancing and pumped up for their competition. 80 students participated and raised $400, compared to the 120 who raised $700 from the first Gatorfest. This was a result of the baseball, softball, and women's lacrosse teams busy with games that day. Danny Razook and Joshua Jacques came in first place winning Red Sox tickets and a dinner to Jillian's in Boston. The second place winners won two $30 gift cards to Wal-Mart. According to Bonavanture, the whole event only took an hour and went very smoothly. There were changes and adjustments made to Gatorfest II from the first Gatorfest. SAAC representative for the Women's Tennis Team junior Kathleen Judge said, "We were more prepared for this Gatorfest, because we learned from the first one. If we do another one, we will do more advertising." Bonavauture said, "We would like to have more in the future based on student interest. SAAC is supportive of what the students want." They will have meetings to add an educational component to Gatorfest, because SAAC is not promoting binge drinking. All events presented by SAAC raises money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This year's goal is $3,000 and money is still being collected. $2,500 was made last year. Some of the other yearly SAAC events included a change drive, Pass the Hat, the selling of the "Superfan" t-shirts for $10, raffles for gift baskets, and last year there was a rock-paper-scissors tournament. The change drive, the most successful money maker, raised $1,300, and both Gatorfests combined raised $1,100. "We won't know what we will be doing next year until our first meeting. It all depends on the mood of the group," said Bonaventure.