Campus draws students and community members with live music, free food, a street fair and the annual main event — the McKinley Mile bike race this Saturday.
The McKinley Mile is a philanthropic event hosted by Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity along with the Office of Student Life. It features a 24-mile Cardinal Relay and the mile-long Benny Dash. The relay teams consist of students and community members. All proceeds benefit the Youth Opportunity Center.
Evan Heintz, event chairman for Lambda Chi, said they have branched out with the event in recent years to bring in more interest.
“We’re trying to reach more to the community,” he said. “We want to get student body there, supporting fellow students. We want it to be a good event for everyone.”
He said the street fair is one of those initiatives. It will include inflatables, free food, music and games.
Last year, the McKinley Mile raised $1,857 for Cardinal Greenway.
Jennifer Pierce, office of student life program coordinator, said 31 teams participated last year, which was a large jump from 19 teams in 2011.
She said she hopes the event’s increasing success will continue this year.
“It’s grown exponentially. We’ve grown in our co-sponsorship in terms of who is helping,” Pierce said. “It’s a fun time, a lot of people come to support their friends.”
For Lambda Chi, the McKinley Mile has special meaning in their history. The event is based on the Lambda Chi Alpha Ball State Bike-A-Thon, which started in 1951. In the past six years, it has been brought back with a new name and co-sponsorship.
“We have a lot of rich history with it,” Heintz said. “It’s an opportunity for us to try it again with a new spin on it. It’s something [Lambda Chi] wanted to take on and something we felt was important to continue and expound upon.”
In the future, Heintz said Lamda Chi would like to host this as their own event.
“We hope to take it on in the future [and] be self-sufficient,” he said. “That is a goal for ourselves hopefully in following years.”
