The South Quad was crowded with diverse Registered Student Organizations and volunteer groups competing for members despite the inconvenient sun.

Organizations such as Lutheran Church Charities, St. Jude and Gift of Hope attended Panther Palooza this year to provide information and get college students to support their campaigns.

Lutheran Church Charities showcased their “comfort dogs,” which provide comfort to people in disaster response situations.

Ruthie, a trained comfort dog from Lutheran Church Charities, has worked in many different areas.

Richard Martin, the director of Comfort Dog Ministry, said 80 dogs were placed in 16 states in 2008.

“Ruthie has interacted with people at churches, schools, hospitals and disaster response situations,” he said. “She was there for the Boston Marathon Bombing.”

St. Jude, an organization that raises funds and awareness for deadly diseases in children, promoted its “Up’til Dawn” campaign.

“Students can stay ‘up’til dawn’ in honor of St. Jude patients,” said Jennifer Smutz, one of the members of the group.

She said the campaign consisted of teams of six people to raise $600 to support St. Jude.

Representatives from Gift of Hope, an organization that focuses on getting people to register to be organ and tissue donors, asked students to sign up.

RSOs such as Haiti Connection and Big Brothers Big Sisters also promoted service and awareness.

Haiti Connection is a student group that works with Quincy University to help people in Haiti.

Caitlin Wend, a junior kinesiology and sports studies major, is one member of the group who talked to students.

“We hold fundraisers every year,” Wend said. “All money goes to projects for Haiti.”

She said Haiti Connection also did an alternative spring break trip before to Guatemala, where they helped build homes.

Bridging Voices in Our Community Bullying Prevention focuses on discussing issues such as bullying and depression with students and providing information on these topics.

Felicia Green, a graduate student, informed students about this prevention group.

“We cover topics people are usually not comfortable about,” said. “We define terms and ask people their opinion as well.”

Kelly Pembrook, a sophomore accounting and finance major registered students to become mentors for Big Brothers Big Sisters, an organization that provides one-on-one relationships with children of Coles County.

“We help underprivileged kids or those who need more mentoring,” Pembrook said. “We operate in partnership with Mid-Illinois Big Brothers Big Sisters in an effort to help youth reach their full potential.”

Debby Hernandez can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]