RHA hosts 2nd annual ‘Grocery Bingo’

Grocery Bingo was hosted by the Residence Hall Assembly (RHA) on Aug. 24 for the second year in a row. 

The event was held in the Crimson and Gold Ballrooms of the Overman Student Center and all students who live on campus were able to attend. Last year, approximately 180 students attended. RHA prepared for at least 280 attendees this year. 

“Grocery Bingo is our welcome back event, to welcome back all of the gorillas living on campus to come to our event, to play a nice fun game of bingo, and hopefully walk away with some prizes,” said Amaya Harris, senior in business management and president of RHA. 

Students played different kinds of bingo, from blacking out the board, to only horizontal, vertical, or diagonal mark outs. Each round had a different prize, some offering things like a Keurig coffee maker, Polaroid camera, medicine baskets, and bags of groceries. 

“We really try to think what would someone want, when they’re just coming to college, what do they really need in the dorm? So, we got anything from games to a Keurig, a polaroid to take those awesome memories and photos throughout the year, and of course groceries,” Harris said.

In between rounds while the students who won prizes filled out paperwork, part of the executive team of RHA talked about a variety of things. One topic included the Community Council, an opportunity for those who live on campus to be involved in their halls and dorms. 

“Joining community council, every hall on campus has their own community council. It’s a great way to get involved on campus, it’s low commitment but lots of fun planning events and doing stuff on campus,” said Hope Rainey, sophomore in strategic communication. 

Students went for a variety of different reasons, including meeting friends, and receiving free groceries. 

“Residence Hall Assembly’s goal is to bring all the housing units together on campus. So, this is a big event that brings people together, and who doesn’t want free groceries?” said RHA advisor Elizabeth Gier. 

The second-round winners included three students, one being Miller Long, freshman in physical education. Long won the same round as his roommate as well. 

“I got snacks, I got free groceries, and I made new friends,” said Long. 

This is RHA’s first event for the year, but they are planning a variety of different events as well, including hosting a conference during the spring semester. 

“This year we are collaborating with our sister organization NRHH and we’re hosting a conference this spring. So, we’re really looking forward to that and we got recognized as organization of the year last year so we’re really hoping to keep building on that and kind of keep putting our name out there and having a good year,” Harris said.