Kickball Tournament
Event Type: "Kick the Silence" Kickball Tournament
Contributors: Alpha Eta Chapter (Spring 2007 Form 110)
Location:
Overview & Background: This was the 4th annual Kickball Tournament.
Our primary goal was to change the philanthropy, which had previously been the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network, more commonly referred to as RAINN. Child, Inc. is a local charity with two battered women’s shelters right here in New Castle County, Delaware. We decided this was a worthy charity with which we could have a very personal connection and a great impact on.
We decided this was a worthy charity with which we could have a very personal connection and a great impact on.
Planning required: The co-chairs began brainstorming and planning soon after being appointed in December of 2006. Roundtable discussions at leadership retreat during the winter helped us discuss in length ideas to revitalize Kick the Silence. After solidifying goals, we knew our focus was the new philanthropy.
After several phone conversations, we met with both the assistant to the Executive Vice President and the head of the Domestic Violence Services program personally at Child, Inc.’s Wilmington office. They were very interested in the program and were honored that we decided to sponsor them. The organization even decided to make a team from the executive board to personally come play at the event.
At the first Brotherhood meeting we presented a slide show to educate Brothers about Child, Inc. and domestic violence in general. To further increase Brothers’ knowledge about sexual assault and domestic violence, we arranged to have a speaker from Child, Inc. come to campus to talk to students about these issues.
After reserving the playing fields, we held committee meetings every one to two weeks consisting of fourteen Brothers who could help us out.
Other fundraising efforts included California Tortilla night at a local restaurant, which grossed $100 in donations this year. We also designed and sold our own event t-shirts, which have always been popular among the Brotherhood. This year we had a great deal and actually made a $130 profit from selling over 60 shirts. We also split up local businesses in the area among committee members, who talked to business owners in biweekly in an attempt to get donations. We were lucky to get a discount on Little Caesar’s pizzas for the day of the event and obtained gift certificates to businesses such as Peace-A-Pizza, Iron Hill, Deer Park, Tea-licious, Shaggy’s, Pita Pit, Newark Deli and Bagel, Starbucks, and many others. We also rented bases and balls from the Bob Carpenter Sports Building and had kickballs donated from a local elementary school.
Resources required:The night before the event we obtained two large bags of key chains, flyers, magnets, water bottles, etc. from all the groups on campus involved in sexual assault awareness at the Rock Against Rape concert hosted by the Men Against Rape Society.
Materials required:
Event Summary:We set up a table with all sorts of information about CHILD, Inc., as well as a water cooler, soft pretzels, and two tents just in case there was a change in weather. One exciting addition we added to the event this year was our own carnival games. We set up two easy-to-use games, one of which was donated by Habitat for Humanity. The idea was for teams to play during down time. We charged a small fee for each attempt, and that money went towards CHILD, Inc. as well. Finally, we laid out the bases and arranged the three playing fields so that as many teams could play at once as possible.
We ended up recruiting 17 teams and over 175 people in total for the event, which was a great feeling! We had teams consisting of Brothers, initiates, the Outing Club, the Adventure Club, Cabrini College, graduate students, Residence Life, Habitat for Humanity, and a team from CHILD, Inc. itself. It was a great feeling to see people arrive with team jerseys on, some even sporting our “Kick the Silence” t-shirts. Many people brought items to donate to our box drive for CHILD, Inc. We collected toiletries, flashlights, and old cell phones, which, as mentioned, were worth $25 a piece.
Each game was limited to a half hour or five innings, whichever came first. The two teams playing each game generally compromised on the rules of play. While the eight teams played, the other nine enjoyed the soft pretzels and played some of the carnival games. Others just watched the action and had some team bonding time. The tournament was single elimination, so the next round of action featured the remaining eight teams. After every team had played once, we had a break so that the players could reenergize and eat some pizza. During this time, Larry Haas, a representative of CHILD, Inc., spoke on behalf of the organization about how grateful they were for such an event like Kick the Silence. He also spoke a little about domestic violence, the services they offer, and the goals of the organization.
17 Teams. 175-200 people. $2,247 raised.
