By Bridget Sjoberg | News Editor
Autumn-themed games and festivities will be present at Kappa Alpha Order’s third annual Fall Fest, which will raise money to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
This year’s Fall Fest will be held from 5-8 p.m. Friday in Burleson Quadrangle. San Antonio junior Chris Estrada serves as philanthropy and merchandise chair for Kappa Alpha, said that the event will present a wide array of fall-themed activities for the Baylor and Waco communities to participate in.
“At the event, we’ll have a pumpkin patch, a dunk tank, pumpkin painting, Bittersweet cookies, coffee, a caramel apple bar with toppings, a dog show and a lot of fall games,” Estrada said. “We’ll also have free popcorn and cotton candy. There will be lots of food and activities—it will be a good environment that everyone on campus can enjoy.”
Fort Wort junior Allen Jamir plays a role in marketing for Kappa Alpha, and said that this year’s Fall Fest will feature a setting at Burleson Quadrangle as opposed to Fountain Mall, and a dog show instead of a petting zoo.
“Last year we did it at Fountain Mall—we’ve explored our options in terms of location but feel that Burleson Quad provides a more intimate setting and is a better fit for Fall Fest,” Jamir said. “The best way [to get involved in the dog show] is to follow Baylor Kappa Alpha Order on Instagram since there is a link in the bio, but there will also be flyers distributed around campus with a QR code that takes you to a Google form.”
These are ways to register a dog for the contest—there is also a $5 fee to benefit the group’s philanthropy. There will be three judges for the contest, and each dog will be presented with an introduction, and show off their costume and a trick.
Estrada said that all proceeds from the event will be donated to MDA, which is Kappa Alpha’s philanthropy.
“Muscular dystrophy is a genetic muscular disease—when it occurs, your muscles get weaker and they get smaller. We’re raising money for that, and for the dog show, we’re having a national representative from MDA,” Estrada said. “Her name is Faith—she’s seven years old and has been affected by muscular dystrophy. She’s going to be a judge for the show.”
Jamir said that most of the food and activities present at Fall Fest will be free for all who attend, but that Bittersweet cookies and the dunk tank will be a small fee, all of which will be donated to MDA. He said that Kappa Alpha Order will also be selling long sleeve Fall Fest t-shirts throughout the week for $15 in the Baylor Sciences Building and the Bill Daniel Student Center.
Jamir also said that a primary goal of this year’s event is marketing and getting the word out about Kappa Alpha Order and MDA to the Baylor and Waco communities.
“One thing that we’re really trying to focus on is campus awareness through this event,” Jamir said. “By putting on this event and marketing it heavily, we want to show that we’re here, and are an organization that is doing good things on campus. We want to emphasize a focus on those struggling with MDA and how they are affected [by MDA].”
Estrada said he hopes that Fall Fest provides a way for those attending to have fun during the fall season while also raising money and awareness for a good cause.
“We’re being very intentional about where our money is going. We already put money aside for this event to donate to MDA, so even if we theoretically lost money from the event, we already have money to donate,” Estrada said. “If we can throw an event that everyone enjoys that is also a philanthropy event where we can donate money, that’s our goal.”
