Each year, Robert Morris University’s Honors Student Advisory Committee organizes a fundraiser in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This year, the committee has decided upon the Pink Feet fundraiser, which will be held on Oct. 15 at the softball field located across from Adams Hall.

“It’s just a great cause for people to get involved with,” said Jennifer Broderick, junior. “We compete with other schools to see who can raise the most money.”

RMU’s honors students compete with Duquesne University, Point Park University and the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) each year to see which school’s honors program can raise the most money towards finding a cure for breast cancer.

According to volume 5, issue 2 of the CCAC Honors “Word of Honor” newsletter, in 2009, the first year of the Pink Feet fundraiser, CCAC raised the most money out of the four schools, raising a whopping $2,002.15, while RMU raised only $205. Duquesne and Point Park both raised nearly five times as much as RMU that year.

RMU’s goal for the 2011 Pink Feet softball tournament is to beat all three competing schools to show how much RMU students really care about the cause.

Having only participated in this fundraiser for the past two years, RMU’s preparations are still in progress, explained Assistant Director of Student Life Armand Buzzelli.

“I had already reserved the softball field for Saturday the 15th, but my plans fell through,” said Buzzelli. “Victoria [Mikulan, secretary of the Honors Student Advisory Committee,] came to me shortly after looking to use the field on the same day, so it worked out perfectly.”

In the past, the Honors Student Advisory Committee used several methods to raise money.

For example, in 2009, small pink paper feet were sold for $1. Students and faculty could write on the feet, which were then hung on the cafeteria walls.

In 2010, they sold T-shirts for $10-15 as well as pink feet and ‘Save the booby bird’ cartoons, which feature the booby bird, an endangered species that mostly inhabits Ecuador, to be filled out and placed on the walls.

This year, students and faculty have the opportunity to pay to participate in a softball tournament. T-Shirts will be sold closer to the event as well as the classic pink paper feet, and the money raised will go towards finding a cure.

Sign-ups for this event will be in the cafeteria during the first two weeks of October. T-shirts and pink paper feet will be on sale at the same tables as sign-ups. Signing up to play in the softball tournament is free for anyone who purchases a T-shirt supporting the fundraiser. There may also be the opportunity to pay to sponsor a player in the tournament with all proceeds going towards the cause.

For more information on this event, please contact Mikulan at [email protected] or Buzzelli at [email protected].