Fundraising comes in many forms nowadays. Everyone is trying to find the best way to get people to donate to their cause. Different clubs at Waynesburg University have joined the trend by hosting different events around campus. The events benefit different organizations and allow people to have fun, while impacting the community in a positive way.

The criminal justice club will host a 5k April 22 that directly benefits the Special Olympics.

One of the student liaisons for the event, Patience Yobp, said the Criminal Justice Club wanted to add another fundraiser to help raise money for the Special Olympics.

“We were trying to do another fundraiser for Special Olympics because the Criminal Justice Club is really involved,” said Yobp. “And one of our proudest things is we resurrected their program, and half of their funds come from our fundraising.”

The money will go directly to the county’s Special Olympics program. This will enable the program to try different sports and activities, according to Yobp.

“This just allows the kids to do different stuff as far as bringing a new sport to our county program,” said Yobp. “We could try bocce or something, and we would be able to purchase the equipment for that or go to more invitationals or host a match.”

The 5k they are hosting differs from the usual fundraising the club does. It was originally set up as a virtual race, which was not the first choice the club decided on.

“We decided to try and do something this year that was different,” said Yobp. “Originally, we were kind of going to do it on our own, and then we found the virtual 5k through Penn State stadium and it was a perfect fit.”

According to Yobp, the Criminal Justice Club is one of the only groups planning a separate race around the event. The participants will all be virtual runners and will be able to run the race anytime throughout the month of April. The Criminal Justice Club also set a date to gather more people, according to Yobp.

“We are all technically going to be virtual runners,” said Yobp. “But we just set a date so that it will be more structured.”

Yobp said they do not have a set route for the race, but they are still working on it.

“I heard about the route but there is nothing concrete about it yet,’ said Yobp.

The race will be run mostly by students, faculty and the Criminal Justice Club. Registration will be held at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse.