A committee of University of Idaho faculty went on a reconnaissance mission to McDonald Elementary School to play bingo with elementary school students.The so-called mission was research for an upcoming UI event to be held at the Student Recreation Center.
The UI event will be highlighted as a Late Night at the Rec theme. UI students will play bingo for bags of groceries and be entered in a raffle for grocery gift cards and small kitchen appliances.
Late Night at the Rec Grocery Bingo will take place at 9 p.m. April 11 in the Student Recreation Center. Games at the event are free to play and open to all UI students.
Grocery Bingo will feature $500 in grocery prizes — bags of groceries and $100 grocery gift cards.
According to UI Campus Dietitian Marissa Rudley, there will be approximately 20 games of bingo with 30-40 grocery prize bags, which will include snacks and full meals. As the event continues, more raffle tickets will be distributed and individual bags of groceries will increase in value, ending at $30.
For each game a student plays, he or she will be entered into a raffle for the grand prize, as well as for small kitchen appliances and groceries.
According to Kristin Strong, Campus Recreation marketing and special events coordinator, Tri-State Outfitters will sponsor prizes for the raffle.
The event is a collaboration between the Department of Student Involvement, Vandal Health Education, Nutrition Counseling and a group of students from a movement sciences class based on leadership and program planning for healthy, active lifestyles.
This is the first grocery bingo event at UI, but it has been a popular program on other campuses such as the University of Kansas.
Rudley said coordinators are pushing for off-campus students to attend the event.
“We’ve been doing a lot of surveying to make sure this is a relevant event that students are interested in,” she said.
Rudley coordinates a healthy vending initiative on campus and said she’ll be providing healthy vending snacks from Ida-Vend for all participants of the event. Approximately halfway through the event, Rudley will also provide a cooking demonstration.
Late Night at the Rec started about seven years ago by a university parent group from the Student Affairs Office, Strong said.
Strong said the purpose of Late Night at the Rec is to provide students something to do on a Friday night so they can meet other people and avoid underage drinking.
Rudley said this is a free, fun event that’s geared toward students.
“We want them to come and participate in an event where they can win lots of really relevant prizes,” Rudley said. “I think everybody would like some help stocking their pantry for the end of the semester.”
Katie Dahlinger, assistant director in the Department of Student Involvement, provides alternative programming to replace underage drinking.
“We know that people can party and not drink alcohol, and that’s great, but for those that want something fun and different, we want to fill that gap,” Dahlinger said.
According to Dahlinger, collaborators are working to include off-campus students more in alternative events such as Late Night at the Rec and programs provided by the Department of Student Involvement.
“We know that we’re missing off-campus students,” Dahlinger said.
Dahlinger worked with off-campus students to get a better understanding of how the Department of Student Involvement can tailor an event to include their living group.
“I want people to have fun,” Dahlinger said. “Let’s have some fun and let’s make college a really good time — live it up while you’re here and leave really loving U of I.”
Jake Smith can be reached at [email protected]