By Sanjea Taylor, Contributing Writer
With Thanksgiving break slowly approaching, a fun and highly anticipated event full of prizes and surprises ensured students on campus were in the Thanksgiving mood.
This event was Thanksgiving Bingo on Nov. 13 that was hosted by the Campus Activities Board(CAB). Students were able to enjoy a few fun games of bingo with the aim of winning a prize at the end. Students were also allowed to receive an extra bingo card if they brought a non-perishable food item to this event.
Whitney Cherrelus, a junior studying marketing with a minor in economics and the Campus Engagement Chair for CAB, discussed the upcoming holiday and the success of the event.
“So, the idea behind the Thanksgiving bingo event was to get as many non-perishable items as possible from the students,” said Cherrelus.
These non-perishable items were placed in the food pantry sponsored by Student Government that will be available to all students, where they are able to take up to five items a day.
“The turnout was really good, we had a full box of non-perishable items,” continued Cheerelus.“ Also, all my bingos are themed.”
With the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday approaching, Cherrelus thought this was the perfect theme to have for her bingo event.
With a fun theme and positive goal for the students, this Thanksgiving bingo event had all the recipes for success. And it was successful, as Cheerelus states, there were 100 chairs which were filled.
“Normally it [Bingo Events] would be full, so I decided to cut it off this time and we made the room a little smaller and more intimate,” said Cherrelus.
At this event students were able to play different styles of bingo, like: X Bingo, Loser Bingo, Regular Bingo and a surprising type of bingo Cherrelus made up to keep the crowd engaged: L Bingo.
With this event, the number of rounds played was based on the amount of student-requested prizes CAB provided.
“We had a JBL Airpod, a Stanley Cup, a Portable Mini Fan, a Thanos Lego set” listed Cherrelus, naming just some of the 10 prizes this event had, with the most desired prize being an iPad.
“I felt excited when I won. When the last number was called, I was like wow, is that me? I was excited,” said Thao Pham, a freshman marketing major from Vietnam and the winner of the iPad. Pham continued, “I really like playing bingo at Saint Leo.”
Just like Pham, many other students really enjoyed this event.
“I see a lot of returners and when somebody is constantly returning you know that they really like it.” said Cherrelus.
When reflecting on the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday, Cherrelus was able to share what Thanksgiving meant to her.
“It means to be thankful for the things that you don’t really recognize in our everyday lives.” said Cherrelus.
“I am mostly thankful for God and my family. I’m from the Bahamas so I’m miles away from my family,” continued Cherrelus. “I’m a first-generation college student so I’m thankful that my family took a chance on me.”
“I’m also thankful to have the CAB, they broke me out of my shell,” said Cherrelus. Because of this, Cherrelus is able to talk to a large group of people, which she did at this event.
With this fun event now complete and students in a Thanksgiving mood, the question is, “When is the next one?” Not to worry, CAB is already working on their next Thanksgiving event, and you can expect to see Cherrelus hosting the next bingo match.
