Meeting Story

Outline:
Meeting issue: Fundraising ideas

1) Background information of the group
A) what the group is exactly
B) a brief history
C) goals of the group

2) Types of fundraising
A) volleyball tournament
B) Panda Express sponsorship
C) posole feed

3) The groups reason for fundraising
A) to help establish themselves in the Greek community
B) cover costs of the club such as membership fees, and cultural awareness events (Día de los Muertos)
C) Provide underprivileged children a chance to earn a laptop scholarship

Members of the Multicultural Group of Equality were seeing dollar signs Monday as they discussed fundraising ideas for this school year.

Jose Garcia, co-founder and president of the student interest group, eagerly expressed the importance of fundraising. “The biggest challenge for MCE is fundraising,” he said. Co-founder Gerardo Galeana also said he was concerned about the groups lack of funds and that the group needed to find more methods for raising money.

The Multicultural Group of Equality or MCE is currently a student interest group which plans to establish itself as a culturally aware, Latino based fraternity through Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, said Garcia. Jesús Mora, a MCE freshmen member, said the group hopes to provide students with more options when choosing a culturally based fraternity.

The group brainstormed many fundraising ideas for this semester ranging from putting on sports tournaments to doing concessions at the WSU home basketball games.

MCE hopes to put on a volleyball tournament that is open for the student body to participate in. In order to participate teams would have to pay a $30 entry fee. The tournament would be from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, in Smith gym 117.

While the time and location for the event has been organized and prepared for, MCE members are in a hurry to find more teams to partake in the tournament. Garcia said as of the Monday meeting, there was only one team signed up for the tournament. The group is going to have to find at least three more teams to participate or the tournament will have to be canceled, said Garcia.

Another fundraiser the group plans to implement is the Panda Express sponsorship. MCE plans to hand out informational flyers about the group to students and staff waiting in line at Panda Express. The event is scheduled to take place during lunch time Sept. 28 through 30 and Oct. 8 through 11. Garcia said if students show the flyer while they are paying for their food, 20 percent of the purchase will go to MCE.

At the meeting the group ruled in favor of putting on an all-you-can-eat fundraising event in November. The event would have an authentic Latino dish called Posole. MCE plans to charge people an $8 fee for the all-you-can-eat. Garcia said he expects this fundraising event to be a hit because it will draw in anyone who loves Mexican food.

MCE plans to use the funds for club operational expenses. “We need to raise a minimum of $2,000 or close to that to cover membership fees for SLB,” said Garcia.

Funding will also allow the group to put on cultural awareness events such as Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead displays and informational tables in each of the WSU cultural centers later this fall. Garcia said these cultural awareness events are what will help the organization to make an impact on society.

These funds will not only benefit the club, said Garcia. The MCE plans to give underprivileged minority high school students the opportunity to receive a free laptop notebook to help them succeed in college. He said while the details have not yet been planned out this is a goal of the group.

Contact Information:
Jose Garcia
Phone: (509) 985-6845
Email: jose.garcia@email.wsu.edu

Gerardo Galeana
Phone: (509) 331-3447
Email: galeana89@yahoo.com

Jesús Mora
Phone: (509) 895-9694
Email: quickace2468@yahoo.com