Beta Alpha Psi members’ ‘pie toss’ to support Our Three Winners fund
What started as a fundraiser for a student organization in the NC State Poole College of Management has also raised more than $3,000 to help support the Our Three Winners scholarship fund at NC State.
Earlier this year, the Beta Alpha Psi chapter in the NC State Poole College of Management began planning for a pie toss fundraiser for the student chapter. The target for the pies is Chris McKitterick, lecturer in Poole College’s Department of Accounting and faculty advisor for BAP, the national honorary society for accounting, finance and information systems students. The fundraiser culminates with a pie toss at 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 15, in the east courtyard of Nelson Hall.
Gina Miani, BAP president, said that she and Gene Beecher, BAP fundraising chair, “had discussed pie-ing Mr. Mac as a fun incentive for a raffle-based fundraiser. Mr. Mac mentioned the idea of donating half of the proceeds towards a charity. During the time we began planning the logistics for this event, the Our Three Winners Scholarship Fund was just being announced, so we felt it was an awesome charity to which our funds could be donated.”
The scholarship fund was established in honor of NC State married alumni Deah Barak and Yusor Abu-Salha, and sophomore architecture student Razan Abu-Salha, Yusor's sister, all of whom were killed at their home in Chapel Hill in February 2015. NC State has seeded the scholarship endowment with initial funds, and fundraising continues. The scholarships will be awarded to students distinguished for their leadership, service and creativity — traits that defined the three lost members of the university community. The three were in the Poole College of Management, College of Sciences and College of Design, respectively.
“Tickets (for the BAP fundrasier) were sold for one dollar each and were used as a raffle to select the person who would be pie-ing Mr. Mac,” Miani said. As a result of the support the fundraiser has received, the student organization is buying six pies, one for each of the six raffle ticket winners.
“We also reached out to others for donations specifically to Our Three Winners,” Miani said. As of Tuesday afternoon, the students had raised $430 for Beta Alpha Psi and over $3,000 for the Our Three Winners Scholarship Fund, she said, noting that the BAP fundraiser has ended but the organization is still accepting donations for the OTW fund.
In an email message to colleagues at the college this week, McKittrick explained that Barakat was a stand-out student in two of his classes. “It was my honor to write a letter of recommendation for Deah to the UNC School of Dentistry. I still find it difficult to wrap my head around what happened to him and his wife and her sister,” McKittrick said.
When the BAP members came up with a fundraising idea for their chapter that would also honor their fellow Wolfpackers, he agreed to be the pie-toss target.
“Since I have taught just about every student who has gone though the Poole College of Management over the last five years, I figure I have "frustrated" a few of them, so I was okay with giving a few of them the chance to ‘pie’ me,” he said.
Donations will be accepted at the pie-toss event or can be dropped off or sent to McKittrick at his campus address. Checks should be written out to "Our Three Winners Fund" with Beta Alpha Psi noted in the memo.
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About the Beta Alpha Psi Iota Omega chapter at NC State
About the Our Three Winners scholarship fund
