– Lizette Avalos
***The writer is enrolled in Comm 240 News Reporting.***
The Fort Hays State University Foundation held its annual Student Awareness Lunch on April 23 at the Robbins Center, where the Foundation provided free meals and scholarship drawings for those in attendance.
This year the FHSU Foundation worked with a Leadership Studies 310 team in order to raise awareness about the event.
Nearly 300 students attended the event, which took place between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and $1,500 in scholarships was given away, said Casy Argandbright, Minneapolis junior and team member. The scholarship monies were courtesy of Astra Bank, Argandbright said.
The FHSU Foundation is a non-profit organization that was established in 1945.
“The Foundation is really the financial arm of the university. We raise and manage and invest all money given to the university for the benefit of the university,” said Tim Chapman, FHSU foundation CEO.
“Our first big project was the guessing jar,” said Kali McCulloch, Wichita senior, and one of the students on the team. Students had to guess how many packaging peanuts were in the jar, which was located in the Memorial Union. The student whose guess was most accurate won a $250 scholarship. Hanna Kircher, Hoisington sophomore, was the winner.
The student team also gave away free water bottles to publicize the event.
“We taped flyers about the event on over 800 water bottles and gave them free to students around campus,” McCulloch said.
State and tuition funding make up barely half of the university’s yearly budget, McCulloch said. The Foundation uses the Awareness Campaign to educate students about the private support necessary to keep tuition low.