Students will be stripping down during a mile-long race to donate clothing to the Salvation Army in the fourth annual Nearly Naked Mile and Sausage Fest on Saturday, April 18 at 1 p.m.
The event is a race through campus with stations to drop off clothes.
The race is hosted by VanAntwerp Hall’s Moose Lodge and Mountain houses. In the Hunt and VanAntwerp lobby, hot dogs and brats will be sold, with all proceeds benefiting Marquette Ending Hunger.
Last year, clothing donations were also given to the Salvation Army, said senior social work major Toni Wilson, one of the co-presidents in Moose Lodge.
“It really seemed to help,” Wilson said. “We wanted to give back to the Marquette community like they do and donate clothes to those in need.”
The weather forecast for the run calls for a mostly sunny day and temperatures in the high 40s.
“Last year it rained and snowed, and there was a good turnout,” Wilson said. “I’m hoping the sunshine will bring out more people. I’m hoping for a good turnout.”
The Nearly Naked Mile and Sausage Fest began four years ago when Mountain House and Moose Lodge “wanted to do a big campus event to help out the community” said NMU graduate Alan Kerr, the resident advisor of Mountain House.
It’s not mandatory to run the event. Participants are allowed to walk the mile at their own pace to drop clothes off at the various locations, and the donation stations are open for people who do not wish to participate in the route at all, but merely drop off clothing.
“I’m just going to take a nice jog and enjoy myself,” Kerr said.
Participants are also not required to strip off their clothes as they run, said junior marketing major Joanna Pellizzer, the resident advisor of Moose Lodge.
“You never know what to expect. I’ve seen people carrying the clothes as they run and dropping them off instead of stripping,” Pellizzer said.
If participants choose to strip however, it is required that they keep enough clothing on that swimwear would conceal.
“Keep it covered,” Kerr said.
So far, 100 people are registered to race. Prizes will be given to first and second place for both men and women.
On race day, chalk drawn on the sidewalks will help direct people on the route, which starts and finishes in the Hunt and VanAntwerp lobby.
Registration for race day begins at 11:30 a.m. in the same lobby.
