Excitement, unity and hope swept the gymnasium floor Thursday night at the dodgeball tournament for Haiti.

Excitement, unity and hope swept the gymnasium floor Thursday night at the dodgeball tournament for Haiti.

“It’s a good way for the whole university to get involved with something as big and tragic as what happened in Haiti,” said C.J. Steward, a sophomore on the finance dodgeball team. “We are doing a great job by having an event like this where we can give back to people who are in need of our help.”

Thirty different majors, decked out in sweatbands and dodgeball gear, gathered at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center at 5:30 p.m. to compete in the tournament and to donate their time and money to the people in Haiti.

“I have close ties and family members who are in Haiti so this has been very hard for me,” Steward said. “I was supposed to go to Haiti this summer, but with all the devastation there I don’t think I will be able to go, and I wish there was more that I could do to help.”

Ashley Wagner, captain of the athletic training dodgeball team, also wanted to do more to help Haiti. When she first mentioned the dodgeball tournament to her fellow students, no one signed up, but more people in her major joined the cause at the last minute. Together, her team donated over $100 toward the tournament.

“We donated money and it’s not just that we are giving away our money, but we actually came together as a student population to participate in a really good cause,” Wagner said. “We are really excited; we are all playing hard and we want to compete and help those in Haiti at the same time.”

Brent May, a senior who joined the dodgeball finance team to help Haiti, said the tournament was a fun way to raise money for Haiti.

“I think this tournament is great and it will help people think more about what is going on in the world and how much the people in Haiti need our help,” May said. “This is an opportunity to help them because everyone here just had to donate $5, but when you look at the big picture we are raising $10,000, and I think that will make a big difference.”

The money raised in the dodgeball tournament is going to Haitians through UNICEF, and the university dubbed the fundraiser Ten Ten Ten.“It’s $10,000 in 10 weeks in 2010, so that’s where the idea came from,” said Mike

Matousek, president of the Financial Management Association and founder of the dodgeball tournament. “We are in the sixth week right now, and we should reach our goal tonight.”

Matousek didn’t set any expectations for the tournament, but the turn out for the event was what he hoped and aimed for.

“I love seeing everyone come together and have fun for a good cause,” Matousek said. “Everyone is doing their part and a little bit goes a long way.”

In addition to the money he is raising, Matousek set up an inspirational message board to the people in Haiti for all the dodgeball teams to sign.“I just hope that not only the money goes over there, but the words reach the people in Haiti, too,” Matousek said. “It will give them hope and it will make a huge difference because they will know we are thinking about them.”

Contact College of Buisness Administration reporter Kelly Maile at [email protected].