Ball State University's sport administration and hospitality event management classes have teamed up to raise at least $1,000 for Harvest Soup Kitchen.
The Harvest Soup Kitchen is open six days each week. The kitchen serves an average of 125-150 people daily and more than 39,000 meals annually.
As part of an immersive learning experience, the classes have created a day-long fundraising event on called Hoops for Harvest, which will take place on Dec. 5.
The sport administration class will host a three-on-three basketball tournament at 2 p.m. Saturday in Irving Gym. The tournament will be double elimination and include 24 male, female or co-ed teams. The cost to participate is $25 per team, and each person will receive a free t-shirt.
The hospitality class will be hosting a fundraising dinner at 6:30 p.m. at the Allegre Dining Room in the Applied Technology Building the same evening. The dinner will include a four–course meal featuring duck as the main entrée and will also include wine. Tickets are $175 for a table of four.
David Pierce, assistant professor of sport administration, has been teaching Sports Administration 402, an event management class, for two-and-a-half years. Each year, the class must organize a sports event from the ground up.
In past years, Pierce said the chosen sports have included basketball and dodgeball. This semester, his class has teamed up with a hospitality class — FCSFN 477, advanced event management — to put together Hoops for Harvest.
Not only will the money go to a good cause, but what students learn from this class can be applied to other parts of their lives, he said.
"I try to get students to realize how early you have to start working hard on something to see it through to fruition," Pierce said. "I believe that's the hardest [part]."
James Connor, a member of the operations group in Pierce's class, said organizing a single event takes a lot more planning than it would seem.
He works as a facility supervisor and said he knew a lot of work went into planning events, but he did not how much.
"My group has to wait until the day of the event and try to make sure it all goes well," Connor said. "Making sure facilities are reserved, making sure equipment is reserved. Every time you take a step, it adds three more steps onto the end."
Junior Emily Butler, a sport administration major, said the event management class is truly an immersive learning experience.
The students work in different groups, each dedicated to one facet of organizing the event. Butler is a part of the public relations group, which she said has faced a few problems along the way.
"The radio stations have been great with helping us advertise," Butler said. "However, it was difficult getting ads in newspapers. We've also had trouble selling tickets because they're so expensive."
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