Paly Key Club will look to make Fast for Awareness an even bigger event next year after raising $5,292.00 from this past weekend’s fast, a number that far exceeds the club’s initial fundraising goal of $2,000.

Junior Key Club President Erika Ji was pleased when she first heard of the fundraising results.

“I was pretty surprised and very happy,” Ji said. “I was very proud of everyone for being able to come together and fundraise that much for a great cause.”

Key Club will donate the money raised from Fast for Awareness to Action Against Hunger, a non-profit organization that works to alleviate hunger in third-world countries.

Ji attributes the success of Fast for Awareness to the nature of the event.

“I think people really warmed up to the idea of being able to fast for hunger,” Ji said, “so they really got out there to fundraise for the cause.”

Ninety students ended up participating in Fast for Awareness, according to Ji, a tally that eclipsed the number of individuals who signed up for the event by its final sign-up deadline on Tuesday, May 26. As a result, Ji believes that, for next year, Key Club will have reason to prepare for an even bigger event with even higher fundraising goals.

“We’ll probably be a little more ambitious,” Ji said. “We’ll have to work harder to put it [Fast for Awareness] together for more people.”

During the Fast for Awareness overnight stay on Friday night in the small gym, students participated in a variety of activities, such as paper crane-folding and card-making service projects, that made for an eventful evening.

“We ended up doing two service projects,” Ji said. “One of them was folding paper cranes, so we’re hoping that eventually we’ll collect 1,000 cranes and send them to a hospital. We also made cards for seniors at local places like Channing House and Lytton Gardens.”

While successful, this year’s Fast for Awareness has nevertheless given Key Club some ideas on how it can improve upon next year’s Fast for Awareness.

“We should streamline registration a little better, maybe get the word out sooner so that people have a little bit more time to register,” Ji said. “I think we probably might need a bigger venue too, so if the big gym is open, we’ll try that.”

Editor’s Note: Paly Key Club recounted the money raised from Fast for Awareness after the publication of this story, and came up with a total amount of $5,292.00 raised instead of $5,261.10. The current version of the story reflects this change.