Color Out Oklahoma donates to charity

Mikaleh Offerman, News Editor

Paying to run is not most people’s perfect idea of a Friday afternoon; however, at OBU 36 people, including Dean Dale Griffin and many OBU students, participated in a fun run to raise money for OU Children’s hospital.

The run was hosted by an on-campus organization, Color Out Oklahoma. The event raised a little over four hundred dollars. Senior Clay Smith is the president and has been part of the organization since his freshmen year.

“I didn’t know exactly what I was getting into [when I first joined],” Smith said. “It seemed like a good cause, and there was also the whole resume deal. I’m not afraid to admit that I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, my gosh I want to be part of this group,’ but after I got to know everyone I’ve just loved it.”

Along with Smith, Color Out Oklahoma is run by advisors Carrie Myles and Dr. Glenn Sanders.

“Carrie Myles and I have been co-sponsors for six or seven years,” Sanders said. “We started when the group was Up Till Dawn, a college fundraiser for St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis.  The hospital specializes in pediatric oncology, in terms of both treatment and family support.  I want to support a group committed to helping children.”

Because of the size of OBU, the club was unable to continue participating in the national organization Up Till Dawn, but they wanted to keep raising money for children, which is how the club was started at OBU.

“We wanted to make it more locally based in Oklahoma, and the biggest place near here that we can donate money to is OU Children’s Hospital,” Smith said. “They have a really good treatment center, and there are several things that only they offer in Oklahoma.”

The track was by the soccer fields. Sigma Phis partnered with Color Out Oklahoma in manning the water tables and spraying runners with paint.

“That’s always one of my favorite parts of the run – spraying people with paint,” Smith said.

Runners are given a white t-shirt to wear before the race so that the paint can stain it.

In addition to hosting the run, Color Out Oklahoma organization puts on other events to raise money for charity.

“We do the run in the fall and a dance in the spring,” Smith said. “Our run is traditionally a cancer fundraiser, but our dance in the spring is more variable in what we feel want to donate money to. This last year it was cardiovascular disease. This year we’re going to start doing more community projects.”

*RETRACTION: Previously, “Color Out Oklahoma” was mistakenly listed as “Color Out Run.” The correct name of the club is “Color Out Oklahoma.”