BuckeyeThon collaborates with Sam Edelman to raise awareness through fashion show

BuckeyeThon is a student organization that raises money for the hematology/oncology/BMT department at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The BuckeyeThon Fashion Show is scheduled for Nov. 2 at the Archie Griffin Grand Ballroom.
Credit: Courtesy of Zach Horner

In an effort to bring together shoes, clothes and kids for a good cause, BuckeyeThon has partnered with shoe designer Sam Edelman to present a fashion show that has been months in the making.

BuckeyeThon is a student organization on campus that works to raise money for the hematology/oncology/BMT department at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.

The organization holds many events throughout the year, but its capstone event is its annual dance marathon, which raised more than $600,000 in February. The fashion show, however, is something BuckeyeThon has never done before and aims to raise awareness for BuckeyeThon and its mission.

“It’s going to be more than your stereotypical fashion show,” said Collin Pfaff, a fourth-year in marketing and the fashion show’s event chair. “We really want to make it a great experience for everyone who attends.”

Models will sport the designer’s shoes during the event.

“We’re going to have 15 girl models, eight guy models, and then we’ll have 16 of our BuckeyeThon kids (model), which is very exciting,” Pfaff said. “All the kids are going to be able to wear Nordstrom clothing, and all the girls will wear Sam Edelman shoes.”

Zach Horner, a fourth-year in marketing and BuckeyeThon’s director of public relations, said the opportunity to partner with Sam Edelman shoes was one the organization couldn’t pass up.

“One of our members actually has a connection with Sam Edelman, and so we kind of pitched our organization to them and said, ‘This is how we operate throughout the year. What can you offer us?’ and they were thrilled about it,” Horner said.

Pfaff said the event has taken extensive preparation.

“We’ve probably starting planning this since late April. We have had phone calls with Sam Edelman and Nordstrom since mid-July, and now it’s probably been one phone call a week with representatives from the Sam Edelman office in New York City,” he said.

All of the money BuckeyeThon brings in from the show’s ticket sales goes back into the event,  said Matt Mangia, a third-year in theoretical mathematics and BuckeyeThon’s director of events.

“Obviously, the event has associated costs, so the money we will bring in from ticket sales is helping us to offset other costs that we have for that event,” Mangia said. “It’s kind of like a trade-off — the money that we raise from that is basically going right back into the event to help us make that something that is an affordable option for Sam’s team.”

But above all, the event is about the BuckeyeThon kids, not about the money being raised.

“We try as much as possible to include the kids. That’s why they are the models. That’s why if you come to any of our events, they’ll be there,” Horner said. “The overall goal is really just to spread awareness but make it fun while doing so with something new and different.”

A Q-and-A session with designer Sam Edelman is slated to be held in the U.S. Bank Conference Theater in the Ohio Union Friday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The BuckeyeThon Fashion Show sponsored by Sam Edelman is scheduled to take place in the Archie Griffin Grand Ballroom at the Ohio Union Saturday. The event is set to begin at 7:30 p.m., and tickets can be purchased through Friday at the info center in the Ohio Union and online for $5.