Big Pink Volleyball was created on the Western Illinois University campus 6 years ago by then, Thompson Hall Complex Director Jessica Butcher and the Thompson Hall staff. They wanted to create a program where they could use a giant 4 foot by 4 foot bright pink volleyball, all while raising money for a great cause. They contacted the WIU Student Recreation Center, who thought the idea was brilliant and jumped on-board! The first year, in April 2002, Big Pink raised $400 for breast cancer awareness charities, with 6 teams participating. Five years later, in 2007, it raised $7,500, with 107 teams.

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Big Pink Volleyball is a four-day volleyball tournament co-sponsored by the Western Illinois University Campus Recreation Center and the Thompson Hall staff. Students, faculty, and staff create teams for the tournament, with a registration fee of $5 per player. All proceeds, coming from registration, t-shirt sales, and donations, are donated locally to the McDonough District Hospital Mammogram Assistance Program and nationally, to the Peoria Memorial Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

The event committee set a goal to have this year’s event include educational pieces. An example of one of these educational aspects was a bulletin board that was created, and then sent to all RAs on campus, for them to utilize on their floors. The bulletin board focused on different aspects of breast cancer: what it is, facts and figures, and how it can affect everyone, not only females. Another great part of this event was the Wall of Wishes. The Wall of Wishes is a blank sheet where students, faculty, and staff can leave words of support for those who are currently fighting, have fought, or know someone who has been affected by breast cancer. These are then hung in the Campus Rec Center during the tournament days for everyone to view. The event also worked with other departments on campus, including the campus health center, to provide more educational opportunities.

The tournament days were always filled with laugher, cheering, smiles, and giant bright pink volleyballs flying around. The excitement came not only from the participants themselves, but from the spectators who came out to watch. Teams were encouraged to dress up in costumes to the theme, board games. Some of the games used included Guess Who?, Pretty Pink Princesses, and Dominos. It was definitely worthwhile to watch them all play while dressed up! After each game, all teams took a picture, which they will then be able to view online and see in future advertisements. The winning team of each game advanced on. It all came down to the championship game on the final night, which again, included the laugher and smiles seen in the other games, along with fun commentating, which was another great way to add excitement to this amazing event. On the final day, a check was presented in the amount of $3500, which is only half of the total donations raised, to the one of the charities.

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Big Pink Volleyball has several goals. The most recognized one is to raise money that will be donated to breast cancer related charities. The money is then split between a local hospital and a nationally recognized charity. Also, this year a goal was set to include educational opportunities for the WIU campus to benefit from. These included bulletin boards, chalking, working with other campus departments, and even radio and TV interviews. Finally, Big Pink Volleyball has a goal of creating a fun environment for the students, faculty, and staffs of WIU to enjoy. It is common to see the participants smiling, cheering, and having a great time, all while being competitive and helping to fight breast cancer.

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The biggest positive effect that comes out of Big Pink Volleyball is the personal gratification and knowledge of knowing that you have helped make the world a better place. Teams rarely walk away discouraged because they lost, they walk away smiling because they helped fight breast cancer, while having fun. This year’s Big Pink Volleyball raised around $7,000 that will be donated to help fight and cure breast cancer.

The participants also gained more knowledge and awareness about breast cancer. This is important, because not everyone is aware that breast cancer not only affects females, but that it can also affect males. Also, from the facts and knowledge that were provided, participants hopefully walked away thinking about what they can do to help prevent this cancer in not only themselves, but the people around them.

Big Pink creates memories, not only for the participants but for everyone involved. It is extremely common to see photograph flashes every game, people talking about previous years, and the excited participants walking away stating “I can’t wait to play again next year!” Nothing puts a smile on your face like seeing happy people walk away from an event that is for a good cause.

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Overall, Big Pink Volleyball was a success this year. Over the 4 days of game play, 995 people participated on 131 teams, and almost 700 t-shirts were sold. This, along with any other donations, totaled around $7,000 that will be donated to help fight and cure breast cancer.

The event not only raised money, but it also educated its participants and everyone on campus. It created a fun and exciting environment for the campus to come and wind down after long days of classes and work. Several teams participated in the costume contest and came ready to play in everything from tutus and pink hair to shirts made into the game Apples to Apples.

Two separate evaluations were given to the teams to fill out, one about the advertising portion of the event and one about the event itself. This information will then be taken and used to help make future events even better.

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Big Pink Volleyball can easily be adapted to any campus. Most local hospitals and charities accept donations and love working with events such as Big Pink. If no breast cancer charities are within the area or a similar event is already put on, a fundraising event could be done for a different cause.

If a recreation center is not available to use, the event could most definitely be done outside. Institutions are encouraged to work with departments on their campus to assist in the funding and facilitating of the program. A medium sized committee (around 7-10) should be enough to organize and facilitate a program of this type. Also, committees should not be discouraged if their first-time event does not reach their goal. It takes several years for a large-scale program like Big Pink Volleyball to catch on and become popular at an institution.

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