On Tuesday, as a part of Red and White Week, the Alumni Association hosted Penny Wars to raise money for NC State Libraries and Wear Red, Get Fed to boast NC State pride.

Penny Wars is a philanthropic event that was established by the Alumni Association during Red and White Week in 2015. Various student organizations compete across campus to raise money by collecting pennies for points, and at the end of the event the student organization that collects the most pennies wins. Students can also help raise money and sabotage other student organizations by dropping coins other than pennies into the jars, which count for negative points.

Many students, including Caleb Parker, a third-year studying sociology and an Alumni Association student ambassador, think that school pride and giving back are closely connected.

“It’s all about school pride, just giving back to your university is the greatest show of school pride, definitely want to give back to a place that has brought so many opportunities,” Parker said.

Chris Tonelli, director of external relations for NCSU Libraries, explained how NC State Libraries was selected as the beneficiary.

“A couple years back, students voted to choose which campus organization would be the beneficiary of the fundraising,” Tonelli said. “A couple years ago it was the libraries, and … this year they decide to dedicate this portion of philanthropy during Red and White Week to the libraries.”

Students at NC State were happy to discover the beneficiary was NCSU Libraries.

“I know personally, I spend numerous hours in the library, so it is definitely giving back to a place that has brought me joy,” Parker said.

Each year the event has a matching donor and for the past two years it has been Wilson White, an NC State alumni and a senior counsel to Google on public policy and government relations.

The NC State Libraries offers many services to both students on campus and the Raleigh community.

“Every semester we have a great slate of events, guest speakers, and workshops,” Tonelli said. “These are all free and open to the public.”

NCSU Libraries also offers equipment for lending, including virtual reality headsets, skeletons for studying medicine and special workspaces, including the audio and music rooms and the Makerspace.

Penny Wars is happening in conjunction with Wear Red, Get Fed, another Red and White Week event relating to philanthropy.

“If you wear that red NC State stuff, then we’re just going to give you free food out of generosity,” said Jack Kiker, a second-year studying mechanical engineering and an Alumni Association student ambassador.

Many NC State alumni come back to NC State’s during Red and White Week and, according to Kiker, it is great for them to see students wearing red and showing school spirit. The Alumni Association plans for a thousand meals each day of the event.

“We try to provide food for a thousand people each day, so on Tuesday and Thursday we do 700 meals [on main campus] and 300 meals on Centennial, so we try to incorporate both campuses,” Kiker said.

Both Penny Wars and Wear Red, Get Fed will continue in the Brickyard through Friday.

“We’re extremely grateful to be the target of the student philanthropy piece of Red and White Week,” Tonelli said.