Campus Outreach Ministry held their second annual “Big Bucks and BBQ” event at Parker Field Aug. 30, where over 900 students came out to eat hotdogs and try their chances at winning prizes, one of which being the coveted free semester of college.
Campus Movement executive director Joey Babich was on the mic, and pumped up the crowd with music and games. He said he wanted students to get to know each other.
“This is an opportunity for us to get connected with hopefully about 1,000 college students,” Babich said. “We are giving them a free meal with a bunch of prizes.”
Students who registered were given one raffle ticket for attending, but additional chances were sold to increase their odds of winning prizes. Prizes offered this year were AirPod Pros, a $100 gas card, a Yeti cooler, a 55-inch flat-screen TV, and most importantly, one free semester of college.
SEMO Family and Consumer Science Education Sophomore Cassidy Barger waited in line for about 20 minutes to register for her chance at a free semester of college.
“I am here for the community and to meet new people. I came last year and it was super fun,” Barger said. “But obviously I wouldn’t mind winning that free semester either, because that would be great.”
When the time came for the number to be called, SEMO art freshman Gavin Harden had the winning ticket, securing him a free semester of college.
“I came to SEMO because I had to pay for this myself and it is cheaper to go here,” Harden said. “This means a lot because I get at least one free semester of college.”
Other winners of the raffle included Track junior Seth Gleason, who won a $100 gas card; Professional Pilot freshman Caroline Bull, who won AirPod Pros; Applied Computer Science graduate Harika Reddy Jejala with a Yeti Cooler; and Computer Information Systems freshman Jacob Knapp with a flat-screen TV.
All proceeds from the raffle supported the Campus Movement Outreach and will fund their other upcoming events throughout the year.
To learn more about Campus Outreach Movement, visit their website.
