Student IMPACT, a faith-based student organization on campus, has created a fundraiser for Ken Allen, the General Manager for Sodexo as he battles forms of blood cancers called Al lamb amyloidosis and multi myeloma. Brandon Foster, a junior on campus and a member of IMPACT, posted a Go Fund Me for Allen to his Twitter. The funds will be used to help Allen and his family pay for his medical expenses. 

Foster, the social media coordinator for IMPACT, was asked by the club’s faculty advisor to create the page.

“I was told about it by Dr. Melanie Hauser, and she mentioned the idea to all of us.” Hauser asked Foster to post the fundraiser on his social media pages rather than the IMPACT page, an idea he initially did not understand. “I was confused at first, because she told me to use my social media accounts to get the word out there, and I thought, ‘Well, if it’s IMPACT shouldn’t it come from the IMPACT?’” However, as the fundraiser began to gain traction, Foster started to realize that his account was better suited to spread the word. 

“I think coming from my account, gained more support for it. It just helped more student or alumni or people that were associated with BV see that. And, I think seeing that it was coming from a student, even if it wasn’t directly my idea, it helped get some support for Ken.” The initial support was overwhelming, he says: “The support over the first hour was great — the support over the first couple hours was so much that we had to increase the goal on the website from $1,000 to $10,000 just to make sure people could keep donating.” 

Foster has humbly reiterated that the idea was definitely not his. After Buena Vista University President Brian Lenzmeier tweeted a link to the Go Fund Me, Foster sent out a new tweet crediting the idea to IMPACT. In it, he stated, “Thank you for all of the support for Ken Allen. Ken definitely deserves it. BVU wouldn’t be the same without him. However, I’d like to make it clear that this wasn’t my idea. This amazing push to help someone we care about came from the collective minds of the Impact club at BVU.” Foster also reiterated this sentiment in an interview with Colin Imhoff on the November 6, 2020 episode of The Beaver Bulletin, where he elaborated on the idea coming from IMPACT rather than himself. 

As of November 14th, the Go Fund Me has reached $5,235. However, Foster states that there is no goal. “As far as an amount goal, we don’t have a number.” Foster also says that as of now, there is no set window of when the donating period will end. When it comes about, he says he will tweet out a date to alert anyone who would still like to donate that has not yet. Click here to follow Foster on Twitter and stay up to date on the status of IMPACT’s fundraiser for Allen. 

Allen is currently in hospice with his wife and should be going back to Mayo clinic soon for more appointments. Click here to donate now. 

Image, courtesy of gofundme.com.