Chase is a 10-year-old boy living in Moscow, with a brain tumor near his optic nerve that makes him blind in one eye and is causing him to lose vision in the other.
Parker Wilson | Argonaut
Gerald is a bright yellow waving air dancer who began his trek throughout the UI campus in Dean of Students Bruce Pitman’s office Monday. Gerald can be sent to any office on the UI campus for $20. The proceeds go to the Make-A-Wish foundation.
When the Make-A-Wish Foundation contacted him, Chase wished to travel with his family to Disney World.
This cause was something the fraternities and sororities of the University of Idaho decided they can work together to achieve, as part of an All-Greek Philanthropy project.
“When (Make-A-Wish) approached us and said that we have a child in the Moscow area that has a wish to come true, we really wanted to get involved,” said Elise Moote, vice president of leadership for UI Panhellinic council.
During Greek Week, more than $1,000 was raised in a penny drop fundraiser. Brittany Bowles, director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said it costs about $6,500 to send a family to Disney World — so they still need to raise about $5,500.
That’s when Moote came up with the idea of Gerald.
Gerald is a bright yellow waving air dancer who began his trek throughout the UI campus in Dean of Students Bruce Pitman’s office Monday and will end his journey on April 18. Moote said the idea was inspired by another idea the Office of Alumni Relations came up with, and when they were thinking of names, “Gerald” just sounded right.
“You don’t purchase an air dancer or those wacky wavy inflatable guys and not name it, that’s just rude,” Moote said.
For $20, Gerald can be sent to any office on UI grounds for one hour. Moote said time with Gerald can be purchased on the UI Marketplace website, https://marketplace.uidaho.edu. If Gerald invades your office and you do not want to put up with his shenanigans for the full hour, you can have Gerald removed for $30. General donations are also accepted on the UI Marketplace website. You can opt out of the fundraiser altogether by emailing the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life.
Bowles said anyone from a student, to a faculty member to an everyday Moscow citizen can purchase Gerald. Gerald can be sent anonymously, or not, and there is an option to leave a 100 character message with Gerald’s arrival.
“Someone is sending it to someone on their birthday, and they’re like, ‘Can he hold a birthday sign?’… and we can definitely make those accommodations, and make sure it’s there during certain times or during staff hours when they’re there,” Bowles said.
Bowles said she expects to see Gerald in her office a lot, as well as Pitman’s office. In fact, Bowles said someone asked her if they could buy Gerald to put in Pitman’s office for an entire day. Moote said she can’t wait to see if a student will buy Gerald to put in a professor’s office in response to a bad grade they got in their class.
Moote said Gerald even has his own Twitter account at @UIGerald and that is the best way for someone to follow Gerald on his journey across campus.
“We’re going to be posting pictures of him wherever he goes,” Moote said. “So, we throw him in an office, we take a picture and then they have the option to send it away and stuff like that. But that’s going to be the best way to keep track of Gerald’s travels and adventures.”
Bowles said she was excited to see participation and enthusiasm for this fundraiser before it even began. She said she thinks it’s a good sign that they’ll be able to help make Chase’s dream come true.
“All of our other philanthropies normally just involve the students, and we really wanted to reach it out to campus and get them involved as well, and have them take part in this fun traveling adventure around campus with Gerald,” Bowles said.
Erin Bamer can be reached at [email protected]