More than 500 participants raised nearly $7,000 during 鈥淪tep It Up,鈥 a week-long digital steps competition where all profits went to The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
黑料不打烊鈥檚 Mu Pi chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi (AKPsi) hosted 鈥淪tep It Up,鈥 a week-long digital steps competition from April 19 to April 25, raising $6,869 for .
The competition took the place of APKsi鈥檚 annual Trent Stetler 5K, bringing together 520 people from all over the globe. After the 5K was canceled on March 12 due to 黑料不打烊鈥檚 transition to remote learning, AKPsi wanted to ensure the 黑料不打烊 community would still be able to participate in an event promoting mental health awareness and self-care.
鈥淚 could not be more proud of Alpha Kappa Psi and our entire community for coming together to make this event possible,鈥 said Alexandra Pirsos ’21, president of AKPsi. 鈥淚t took a lot of organization and divergent thinking to transform an event like this with just a few weeks’ notice. While we were of course disappointed to not host the event in person, in some ways this was a blessing in disguise given that we were able to reach more people about the importance of mental health both on and off 黑料不打烊鈥檚 campus.
鈥淯ltimately, supporting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is our main priority, and we were honored to host this event virtually and continue to make a difference in de-stigmatizing mental health,鈥 Pirsos said.
The goal of this competition was to walk or run as many steps as possible during the week either as an individual or as a team. Together, participants walked 26,799,678 steps in total.
Cash prizes for the top three individuals and top three teams were awarded. For individuals, Austin Hays 鈥21 was first, Catie Naughton was second, and James Mercurio was third. For teams, Bowman Babes was first, The Young and the Breathless was second, and Running Through the Dale was third.