Tomorrow, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) plans to host its annual Minute March Madness event, and this year all proceeds will go towards helping Matt Cooper, a junior recently diagnosed with leukemia.

According to Rachel Dixon, FCA council member and senior, the club, as a Christian organization, wanted to reach out to those in need and have an open event for the school and community.

“The event’s free, but there’s a little jar that’s for donations, and we’ll end up taking all the donations and donating it to an organization …. It’s for Matt this year (because) he was diagnosed with leukemia, and we wanted to show our support that, as a club, we’re here for him,” Dixon said.

During the event, Dixon said there will be multiple activities going on: a basketball tournament, capture the flag, dodgeball and volleyball. The basketball tournament will involve games between teams of three, and both dodgeball and volleyball will be competitions among grades. Additionally, the March Madness games being played during the night of the event will be projected on another court.

FCA sponsor Derek Moser said the main goal of the event is to raise awareness and funds for organizations and people who need support.

“I know (because) of Matt, (the event is) probably going to be more emotional, and the kids are going to care a little more because there’s a face to it now,” Moser said. “It makes the kids understand that this stuff actually happens, and it kind of hits home a little bit more.”

Dixon said there are seven members on the FCA council who plan all the major FCA events throughout the year and decide where to donate the proceeds gathered from Minute March Madness.

“(The council) just prayed about it and we all felt (motivated) to give money towards Matt to help his family out with the cost of the chemo and the doctor’s bills and everything,” Dixon said.

Moser continued this sentiment about helping Cooper.

“We know Matt. He’s a great kid (but in an) extremely unfortunate situation, and I just think that any time that you can help somebody is awesome, but any time that you know the person and you can help them, there’s no reason not to,” Moser said. “I just think it made sense (to give the proceeds to him) and it was a no-brainer—you know, let’s just do it for Coop, so it’s awesome to see the kids just rally around Matt and just try to support him. I know he really appreciates it.”