Breathe Hope is hosting a talent show on March 4 to fundraise and donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Credit: Courtesy of Elizabeth Raglow

For students with the desire to help raise money for those with cystic fibrosis, the Breathe Hope Talent Show is a way to get creative while giving back.

Ohio State students can share their talent through the Breathe Hope Talent Show fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation March 4. Breathe Hope, an on-campus organization with the overarching goal of raising awareness for cystic fibrosis, holds multiple events throughout the year in order to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, according to its mission statement. The organization hopes to raise $1,500 from the event, according to Breathe Hope’s website.

Cystic fibrosis — an inherited disorder that causes damage to the lungs, digestive system and other organs — affects around 40,000 people in the U.S, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation website.

Elizabeth Raglow, treasurer of Breathe Hope, said she brought up the idea of an open-mic night or talent show during her first year at Ohio State. Breathe Hope hosted two open-mic nights before changing the event into a talent show for this year.

“As someone who loves to sing — loves to perform — that was always something that was really up my alley, and I didn’t see a lot of organizations doing things like that at Ohio State,” Raglow, a fourth-year in human resources and political science, said. “I wanted to sort of combine that idea of fundraising for a good cause with something that I was really passionate about and bring that to Breathe Hope.”

Emilie Thomas, a fourth-year in Spanish as well as child and youth studies and president of Breathe Hope, said the open mic nights’ largest turnout was its first year. The talent show was created to encourage more participants.

“This year, we are really trying to reach out to other performance groups to get them to sign up to perform, because sometimes it can be hard to get general members to sign up if they don’t think they have a talent,” Thomas said.

Raglow said this year, Breathe Hope wants to encourage those who haven’t had the chance to perform in a public setting like this before with incentives, including awards for the best overall and most entertaining performances.

The audience has the opportunity to be involved in judging the talent show, Raglow said.

“The judges are anyone who’s in the audience,” Raglow said. “It’s sort of like an audience voting system where everyone scans a QR code and then gets to vote for their favorite act.”

Students can fill out forms in order to participate or reserve a spot to attend the event. Participants or audience members pay a $5 admission donation serving as a ticket to the event in Hitchcock Hall