This past Sunday, March 30, the second annual ‘I Pink I Can’ carnival was held at the University of Central Florida.
The carnival was held by a registered student organization at UCF, Knights Go Pink and was in affiliation with LEAD Scholars at UCF.
The fundraiser was put on to raise money for an organization called United In Pink to promote breast cancer awareness and increase research funding.
The group was attempting to reach their semester fundraising goal of $1000 during the event, but successfully earned more than that prior to the carnival date. The group as a whole has raised over $2000 to donate to United In Pink over the course of the past two years.
The carnival was composed of multiple sponsors such as Victoria’s Secret PINK, 101.9 Amp Radio, Volunteer UCF, Key Harmony, the RWC, the UCF Student Union and many more.
President of Knights Go Pink and the Campus Activities Director of LEAD Scholars, Alex Carciente, a UCF sophomore, was appreciative of the success from sponsors for the event.
“We are so grateful for their participation, and could not have had the success we had without them,” Carciente said.
Throughout the three hours, a rough estimate of 800 people visited and supported their cause, enjoying games and prizes, music, a live DJ and carnival themed food.
Knights Go Pink is a newer club to the UCF community. The organization was started in a LEAD scholars class during the fall semester of 2012. The groups were assigned to create a project that involved the aspect of social change.
UCF sophomore Ny’a Crum, a founding member of Knights Go Pink, set the foundation for the event.
“I had the idea of a fashion show called, ‘Bras For a Cause’. Men would model bras designed by them or their team. As my group worked to put this show together, we grew a stronger love for this and wanted to make it an organization,” Crum said. “There were no breast cancer organizations on campus at the time so we went through the process and now we are succeeding more than ever.”
The marketing co-director, Lauren Daniel, a freshman at UCF, expressed her love for the organization.
“My favorite part is definitely knowing that we’re actively doing something to help people with breast cancer and their families. It’s a lot of work to put these events on, but everyone does their part,” Daniel said. “Once it’s put together, it’s all worth it. We were all amazed seeing the carnival going on yesterday, saying to ourselves, ‘We did this’.”
Knights Go Pink will continue their two annual fundraisers, the fashion show and carnival, in the years to come hoping to gain more participants, volunteers and funds for United In Pink.
“I have been with this organization since it’s founding, and I have seen it grown from nothing. I have seen this organization struggle through so much, yet continue to grow and charge through those challenges,” Carciente said.
