Alpha Phi Omega tries to raise $1K this week for cancer

An MSU fraternity kicked off a 30-year-old, weeklong fundraiser Monday, raising $230 in six hours with the hope of finding a cure for cancer.

Officials from Alpha Phi Omega, a nongreek, community service-based fraternity, said they hope to raise $1,000 by Friday for Ugly Man on Campus, or UMOC, an event that benefits the American Cancer Society, or ACS.

If the group reaches its goal, it would surpass last year’s total of $700, said Rachel Putnam, an APO member who organized the fundraiser.

“That’s awesome,” Putnam said. “(If we get) $230 every day, after five days that is going to be a lot of money.”

The “ugly man” in question is the term APO gives to cancer. Held every year since the 1970s, UMOC is one of the fraternity’s biggest fundraising events.

UMOC also occurs during National Service Week, which encourages people to take part in community service projects across the country.

“It’s traditional,” Putnam said. “October was (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) and this is kind of finishing things off.”

APO will set up tables to collect money from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day this week at five locations across campus. Locations include the Union, Bessey and Wells halls and the Biomedical and Physical Sciences and Engineering buildings.

Each location features a table with four buckets for donations. Students choose which bucket to put their money in and can choose either the University of Michigan, APO, Sparty or the MSU women’s rowing team. At the end of the week, the group whose buckets collect the most money will have
a check donated to ACS in its name.

Matt Weise, head coach of the rowing team, said UMOC is a noble cause and he encourages students to spare some change for ACS.

“I think (APO is) doing it for a good cause and hopefully people get into the spirit of it and throw whatever money they were going to spend on coffee and throw it in the buckets,” Weise said.

APO has been planning for UMOC since the beginning of the semester, said Brit Hughes, APO’s assistant pledgemaster.

“Everything adds up, anything helps,” Hughes said. “We want to fight cancer by giving our money and
change to the American Cancer Society.”

Emily Hendershot, a community representative for ACS’s Capital Area Service Center in East Lansing, said UMOC is one of the many events on campus throughout the year that ultimately benefit the nonprofit.

“We are just so grateful to have (APO) involved,” Hendershot said. “They are involved year after year (and) we appreciate all their efforts.”