Ohio State students made donations to Relay For Life at the South Campus Gateway Friday night at McFadden’s and Ugly Tuna Saloona.

Purple 101: Relay for Life Bar Night was from 8 p.m. until the bar closed. Members from one of the more than 100 OSU teams for Relay for Life accepted donations in exchange for a wristband or ticket that gave donors discounts on drinks.

Kelsey Smathers, president of the OSU Relay for Life committee, said she found it to be a good way to reach a lot of students on a Friday night.

“We went to Ugly Tuna last year and they hosted a purple beer night for us and we raised $600 just from donations. We raised $200 at a Little Bar fundraiser and we thought we might as well hold one this year. This year however, we were lucky enough to get two bars instead of one,” Smathers said.

The original plan was to have purple beer served again in honor of the official color for the Relay for Life, but due to technicalities between the team and bar managers they instead gave tickets with each donation that gave customers 20-ounce draft beers for $1 at Ugly Tuna and $2 drafts or $3 wells at McFadden’s.

“A lot of people did ask about the purple beer and not having it; it wasn’t a big deal to most. What was the more interesting point was that the people that gave the most rarely, if ever, wanted a coupon to get the $1 drink. They more or less wanted to donate to the cause rather than the deal,” said Trent Strechschulte, vice president of the OSU Relay for Life committee.

When asked how successful the night was, team members said that it was an accomplishment because they were able to talk to a lot of people about Relay for Life and raise money.

“When we live and work with a college community, we have to focus our efforts into how to best address that population and it worked out that we were able to speak to a lot of people,” said Amila Uppal, participant development chair for the Relay for Life committee. “Even though there were some mix-ups we do appreciate McFadden’s and Ugly Tuna letting us talk to their customers and raise money for a great cause and we hope to continue the tradition.”

Other events will be held on and around campus up until the relay, May 9-10, at Fred Beekman Park from noon to noon. A list of the future events can be found at www.relayforlife.org/ohiostate.

Allyson Simcox can be reached at [email protected].