By: Emily Wolter

The North Carolina State Fair is right around the corner (October 11th – 21st) and for the NC State Food Science Club, that means a lot more than just deep fried candy bars and entertaining rides. It means 2 weeks of non-stop ice cream scooping that will fund all of the club events they take on throughout the year. Club members sign up for a slew of shifts and faculty/staff get on board, as well! It’s a great team building opportunity and fundraiser all at the same time, but it’s a big production.

Ice cream is purchased in bulk from NC State’s very own Howling Cow Creamery in advance. Each morning of the fair, set-up begins at 6 am and shifts of students man the hungry crowd until closing time at 11 pm. A police escort leads the students out of the park, the sun goes down, and it starts all over again a few short hours later.

However, the funding obtained from these very intense 2 weeks is well worth the effort, enabling the food science club to support their members in a variety of activities, from social events and community service to product development projects and club dinners at every meeting.

What does your club do to raise funding for their activities throughout the year? Have you kick started any new fundraisers recently? Please share in the comments section! 🙂