Last week, Her Campus Illinois hosted a fundraising event called “Road to the R.A.C.E.S.,” which helped raise money for Rape Advocacy, Counseling and Educational Services (R.A.C.E.S.) for the Champaign-Urbana area.
Historically, the Champaign-Urbana feminist coalition called Women Against Rape, founded the Rape Crisis Center in the 1970’s – R.A.C.E.S. is the daughter of that original Rape Crisis Center. Since their establishment in 2009, R.A.C.E.S. has answered hundreds of calls on their 24-hour rape crisis hotline.
Their mission is to “challenge the rape culture and empower victims and survivors of sexual violence through advocacy, counseling, education, crisis intervention, and activism.” R.A.C.E.S. provides free counseling services to individuals in the Champaign area and they train hundreds of ally professionals each year.
With such a great cause in mind, Her Campus Illinois put together a Derby themed event to raise funds.
Of course, Her Campus would not have held this event without proper attire. The attendees were encouraged to put on their prettiest sundresses and their fanciest sunhats for the evening. The person with the best Derby hat was to win a $20 gift card to Forever 21!
“I loved the outfits girls were wearing, and personally my favorite part was winning a gift card for my outfit,” exclaimed Melissa, a Her Campus Illinois member and attendee of the event.
Other gift cards were handed out throughout the night for places like Forever 21, Starbucks, Chipotle, Victoria’s Secret and The Beach. Additionally, “swag bags” filled with goodies were handed out to the first 20 people that arrived at the event.
The event was held at Clyborne’s bar where attendees could buy $2 U-Call-Its with their pre-purchased $5 Illini orange cups. Additionally, any tips made to the bartender that night went directly to the fundraiser. Needless to say, fundraising was a success. The grand total fundraised that night was $800!
“It is always important to keep helping out the community that we all currently reside in,” says Melissa
She’s right! No matter how big or small, every act of kindness makes a huge difference. The girls at Her Campus Illinois found a fun way to raise funds. Who doesn’t like to play dress up and have a fun night out with the girls, after all? We do, of course!