UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Beaver Stadium will be a sea of blue on Saturday, November 29, for the final home football game, as student organization One Heart marks the fourth annual Blue Out, a fundraising and awareness event for child sexual abuse prevention.
Fans attending the game are encouraged to wear blue and to donate to students who will be raising money for Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania. The efforts can also be supported by purchasing official Blue Out T-shirts and other apparel.
Shirts and other items are available for purchase at the Family Clothesline in downtown State College and online at pennstateclothes.com. They are also being sold on the University Park campus at the Penn State Student Bookstore, and in the Penn State Bookstore kiosks and All-Sports Museum on game day.
The Penn State football team plays Michigan State Saturday in the season finale, with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.
Since their inceptions in November 2011, One Heart, a Penn State student organization centered on educating people on child sexual abuse prevention, and “Blue Out,” the group’s main fundraising event, have raised more than $150,000.00.
The Blue Out was created in 2011 by graduate students Laura March and Stuart Shapiro who wanted to fill Beaver Stadium with blue (the recognized color for child abuse prevention) shirts to raise awareness of child abuse.
In 2012, One Heart teamed up with students to plan and promote the event. Since then, the organization has been the host of the Blue Out football game each year.
The 2014 Blue Out event has a theme of “Teaching Today, Protecting Tomorrow,” said Danielle Roethlein, One Heart public relations director.
“One of the things we’re trying to accomplish this year is to change everyone’s outlook on what we’re about,” Roethlein explained. “We’re definitely trying to raise awareness and prevent child abuse, but we’re trying to have a positive view of our trying to create a better tomorrow, a better future for children.”
While the Blue Out is the organization’s largest fundraiser, members hold events throughout the year to promote awareness.
Events include a “Stewards of Children” training program, which teaches students and others in the community how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse, and “Pinwheels for Preventions,” another One Heart fundraiser that sells bouquets of pinwheels — Prevent Child Abuse America’s symbol of child abuse prevention — to local vendors who show support for the cause.
For more information about One Heart and the Blue Out, visit http://sites.psu.edu/oneheart/ and http://sites.psu.edu/blueout/about/.
Follow on twitter at @OneHeartPSU and @BlueOut.
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