Hundreds of people gathered at The Steer on Main Street Wednesday night to pledge their donations, support and compassion to Kevin Pitra, a second year graduate student in the School of Education who is undergoing treatment for cancer.
Volunteers from the School of Education and the UB athletic community organized the event to help the Pitra family bear the brunt of their medical bill expenses.
The event, which ran from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., included a Chinese auction, a live band and over 50 baskets that were raffled off to patrons on the second floor of The Steer.
"These baskets are all gifts," said Mary Carol, an admissions assistant who sold raffle tickets at the event. "Half of them were given by individuals and the other half were from solicitations. It's just amazing how generous people are. Students were exceptionally generous."
The flyer for the event expected to "raise hope and support," but promoters were able to raise more than that.
According to Dan Nilsson, a student in the GSE who was collecting $5 cover charges for students and $20 for faculty, the fundraiser had generated over $5,000 by 11:30 p.m.
"There were people that threw in $20 instead of $5. There were people that threw in $40 instead of $20," Nilsson said.
By night's end, the event would gross near $10,000, according to Gabe Cagwin, a student in the School of Education and organizer of the fundraiser.
Pitra's treatments cost almost $1,200 a week and will continue for another six months. He said the response from the community surprised him.
"I wasn't even involved," Pitra said. "From the support of some good friends it developed into something big and than something bigger. It's been so overwhelming. Words can't even describe it."
Many UB sports teams made the event mandatory for their athletes, according to Sara Sheffer, president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.
"We have 20 teams involved in the event. Each team has contributed in their own special way," Sheffer said. "We went to businesses and asked for monetary donations and gifts in kind. The athletes are the ones selling the tickets."
The athlete solicitations worked.
Before Wednesday's event at The Steer, organizers hoped to raise $5,000. But they were overwhelmed with private donations, and $5,600 was raised before the benefit even started, said William Barba, chairman of the School of Education's Department of Educational Leadership and Policy.
"All the priests from St. Joe's were here," Barba said. "People from Sunday church donated $1,700. We had a booth set up in church."
"Some 80-year-old man said that he didn't have any money to give us, but he wanted my business card," Barba said. "The other day I got a check in the mail with $100 in it. It was from that little old man. He said, 'That boy needs help.'"
At 10:15 p.m., Andever, a rock band that regularly plays at Broadway Joe's, performed downstairs at The Steer for over two and a half hours. The quartet played a collection of mid-nineties rock songs, mixed in with their own original music.
"Our guitar player, Joe, goes to church with Kevin," said Darren Pilato, the band's bass player and a junior finance major at UB. "We're doing it free. It's a cause you just have to be a part of. It's great to be here."
"I met Kevin Pitra a couple of times in church," said Joseph Brunelli, Andever's guitarist and a senior international business major at UB. "They said they wanted to pay us but we said no."
Andever was scheduled to play until 1 a.m., but the crowd was thirsty for more rock.
"They wouldn't let us get off the stage," Brunelli said. "We ended up playing four or five more songs."
Many students who would normally be home on a Wednesday came out to support their friends.
"We have a lot of friends on the soccer team and we just wanted to come out and support them," said Mandy Cossey, a sophomore history major.
Lauren Braun, a senior theatre major, said, "I'm here because I heard what the cause was and it will benefit Kevin's health. Normally I'd be sleeping."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
