Bonner program hosts cheesesteak meal in Beehive
The Waynesburg University Bonner Program has been an active piece on campus and in the community. On Friday, Jan. 29, the program continues an annual fundraiser for a local organization in the Beehive at 4:30 p.m.
The Bonner Program is known for the amount of hours its scholars give during the semester.
The program is based on the amount of community service in which the students and faculty take part. One of the main goals is to help connect the community and the university.
This year the Bonner Program is using its Philly cheesesteak dinner fundraiser to help support the Greene County Special Olympics.
“This is the seventh year we have hosted this event,” senior Bonner scholar John Lydic said. “It seems like most of the faculty and students enjoy it and have good time.”
The event occurs once a year with the goal of helping a local organization. In recent years, the fundraiser has helped local groups like the Bowlby Library afternoon programs and “W.W.J.D,” known now as the Greater Waynesburg Christian Outreach. The fundraiser helps balance some of the costs for these organizations.
To put the fundraiser together, a group is assigned an issue-based project and creates support. From there, the group plans the event and the actions to take. Last year, the fundraiser raised over $900. This year, the goal is set at $1,000.
“It doesn’t cost that much for students,” Lydic said. “It takes only a meal swipe and then $2. You then receive a drink, sandwich and a cookie. The $2 and any other donations go straight to the Greene County Special Olympics.”
For one of the larger scholarship programs at the university, the Philly cheesesteak dinner has been one of the crucial fundraisers in recent years.
The Bonner Program is confident that they will at least get close to achieving their goal of $1,000.
“We had some great turnout in recent years,” said Lydic. “We just want people to come out and have a good time. It’s a little difficult being on a Friday evening but we feel good about it. The main goal is not to help the program but to help and benefit a lot of others that are around us.”
The event kicks off on the second floor of the Stover Center at 4:30 p.m.