INPIRG to sponsor costume fun run

The Indiana Public Interest Research Group is sponsoring a Halloween costume run, Nightmare on 10th Street, to raise funds for local Bloomington shelters. The event is at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Arboretum. The costume run officially begins at 2:30 p.m.

The event is open to the public, and participants can enter by donating canned goods or winter clothing. Prizes and cookies from Baked will be provided.

“Nightmare on 10th Street is a benefit fun-run,” said Kaylin Staley, junior and member of INPIRG.

“We’re doing it to raise awareness for Middle Way House and New Hope Family Shelter. Everyone dresses up in Halloween costumes, and the proceeds are going to those two shelters. I think it will be awesome to see people running around on campus in their costumes.”

INPIRG is a nonprofit student organization that advocates important issues having to do with the community and the nation as a whole.

Sophomore Sydney Hofferth said she became interested in INPIRG after learning about it in a class.

“I’m really interested in politics and public policy,” Hofferth said. “INPIRG is a great way to solve big issues.”

The national organization Public Interest Research Group was started in the 1980s and aims to actively engage students not only in politics but also in volunteerism. The Bloomington-based INPIRG chapter is presently the only chapter in Indiana.

“I’ve been looking for a way to help make a difference, and someone came and talked about it, and I was like ‘that’s exactly what I want to do,’” Staley said. “With INPIRG you can actually do stuff. You see results in INPIRG, so it’s really cool.”

Previous INPIRG campaigns have included registering about 8,000 students on campus to vote for the midterm election, and more recently, a canned food drive, which raised more than 200 pounds of food for Bloomington shelters.

Any interested IU student may join INPIRG and can either be a volunteer or be an intern to receive class credit.

“We love volunteers,” Hofferth said. “However much time you put into it, we’re more than happy. Usually we try to shoot for one to two events per campaign, and we have four campaigns right now. The size of the event varies as well.”

Other events the organization is sponsoring is the week-long INPIRG pledge drive starting Monday.

“Every semester we need to have the support of 10 percent of the student body in order to stay funded because we are completely student run and funded,” Hofferth said.