APO hosts annual FRIENDS fundraising events

Alpha Phi Omega, University of Richmond's community service fraternity, hosted its annual FRIENDS Association for Children fundraiser last week.

Emmy Morse, president of APO, said, “The Richmond FRIENDS Association is a child and family agency in Jackson Ward that runs after school programs and support services for low-income children and their families in the Richmond area.”

The FRIENDS Association program works to promote literacy and developmental skills in children, while promoting a greater understanding and appreciation of their community and the world around them, Morse said.

“The choice of FRIENDS as a partner organization goes way back before my time as president,” Morse said. “Actually, our event used to be called ‘Teeter for Tots,’ where we would bring out these huge teeter totters for the kids to play on, and then we would charge students to teeter at like 3 a.m.”

Morse said APO was trying to keep “the fundraising goals manageable until the event is established on campus.” Their goal was to raise between $300 and $500 this year.

APO organized several events that took place throughout last week. Monday morning was the opening ceremony in Heilman Dining Center. “We invited some of the FRIENDS kids to eat lunch and do some crafts with our brothers in D-hall,” Morse said.

Tuesday night, they hosted a talent show in The Pier where people could vote for their favorite acts with money or tickets, and buy raffle tickets for chances to win gift cards and Subject To Change T-shirts.

“The APO Talent Show was an event that allowed different people from the school to showcase their talent,” Kim D’Agostini, an APO member, said. “But more importantly, the event was to raise money through the raffle and tickets to donate to the FRIENDS Association. We donate 100 percent of the proceeds to the association.”

Wednesday there was an STC comedy show. “From the feedback I've received, it seemed like people really enjoyed going to the events and supporting FRIENDS,” said Morse.

Morse said, “[FRIENDS is] a fantastic organization, and we have a lot of fun supporting them each year.”

Contact reporter Marta Quero at marta.quero@richmond.edu