On March 19th we held our first fundraiser of the year at Beavercreek VFW Post 8312. Our March Madness Cornhole Tournament was a 16-team, double elimination event that went to benefit the construction of a new veteran & military memorial on-campus. Wright State University challenged us with a 3 to 1 match opportunity for our event that we worked hard to take advantage of. In the end, we were able to raise more than $30,000 for the Champion Garden.
We were able to provide attendees with food, drinks, raffle items, swag, prizes, and more. We had a great turnout with over 60 people in attendance and we were able to complete all the tournament games, hand out raffle/ 50-50 prizes, and clean up all in less than 4 hours. We took away a few lessons from our first cornhole tournament so we can provide a better experience next year, including increasing the amount of teams from 16 to 24.
This years event was made possible by our sponsors including;
Beavercreek VFW Post 8312
Montgomery County Veterans Services Commission
Porter, Wright, Morris, and Arthur
University of Dayton Veterans Services
Wright State Alumni Association
Wright State Veteran & Military Center
Our fundraiser went to benefit the Champion Garden which "will be an outdoor space dedicated to all who have championed Wright student veterans. We will create a space for the community to demonstrate their commitment and support for special veterans in their lives. It will also be a space for veterans themselves to honor their personal champions, be it their spouse, parent, sibling, or friend. Above all, we hope the VMC Champion Garden will be a space that honors the support that veterans and the military connected share among themselves."
There are still opportunities to give to the Champion Garden. Those who donate will have the opportunity to honor their champion by purchasing an engraved brick or dog tag with the name and reason for your gift. Also, please share the story motivating your donation. You may provide a written or video narrative involving who you are honoring or talking about them. Those stories will be archived in the Wright State digital archives, and ultimately populate a searchable database of champions. Your gift will directly benefit the operations of the VMC and Wright State's student veterans.