<lunteer for Carleton made its triumphant return to campus last week. The event, sponsored by the Alumni Annual Fund, drew students to the Great Hall to write postcards and make phone calls to alumni and volunteers, thanking them for their support. From Sunday to Thursday, students turned out to volunteer and enjoy dinner courtesy of El Truinfo and Basil’s Pizza.
Overall, 331 students came to Volunteer to Carleton, where they raised $20,014 in gifts and $31, 373 in pledges, according to Kimberly Barnes, the Assistant to the Director of the Alumni Annual Fund.
“Carleton students from all classes wrote 5,380 postcards and made 193 thank-you calls,” she said.
“We were very pleased with how the event went,” added committee member Trey Brademan ‘14. “The raw energy students brought when they walked in to volunteer is always exciting to see.”
The cards and calls went out to alumni, parents, and friends of the college who have volunteered their time to Carleton, and of course, to those who made financial contributions. Approximately 98 students made thank-you calls, 33 students attended all five nights, and 4 alumni also attended.
Additionally, according to statistics released by Barnes, the senior class had the highest turnout, representing 35 percent of the total number of students.
Next came the juniors, with 29 percent, and then the first-years with 19 percent. The sophomore class had the lowest turnout, representing 17 percent of the total.
The Fund coordinated the event with the help of the eighteen students on the Volunteer for Carleton Committee, who represented all four class years. The Committee’s job was to publicize the event and to organize rewards for the volunteers.
“We are always trying to get more people to come in to volunteer their time! The more the merrier.” Brademan said.
This year’s committee followed past tradition by offering incentives not only to go but also to go every night.
For one night attended, students received Volunteer for Carleton sunglasses.
For three nights attended, volunteers got a VFC soup mug. Students who went four nights received a VFC shirt, and those who went all five nights received all the aforementioned prizes and were also entered into a raffle for $150 Target gift card.
“How can you lose with Calvin and Hobbes?” questioned Brademan with regards to this year’s VFC shirts.
The VFC committee was also in charge of last Friday’s prize raffles, where students were able to use the tickets they received each night to enter into raffles for various prizes.
Students who attended every night of the event also received one hundred bonus tickets to use in the raffles.
Prizes included free nights at Northfield hotels, gift cards for many local businesses, tickets to a Minnesota Wild hockey game, and dinner with President Steven Poskanzer. Several staff members contributed baked goods.
There were also prizes reserved specifically for those volunteers who made phone calls. These included Schillers and a special cooking class and dinner from Bon Appetit that went to the top team of callers.
“There were over 300 students who came to make VFC 2013 a phenomenal success, raising over $51,000 and thanking more than 5,250 alumni donors and volunteer leaders,” said Brademan.
“I mean, come on, that’s like almost a year’s tuition for a student. Its so awesome.”