How many careers involve guarding a flock of pink plastic flamingoes? It’s part of the job description for WFAA staff who volunteer to help out at the annual Fill the Hill fundraiser. Throughout the year, employees have the option of volunteering to help host various events, from registering cute grandkids for Grandparents University® to handing out candy in the Homecoming parade.
But a perennial favorite is Fill the Hill, when staff plant a plastic pink flamingo on Bascom Hill for each person who makes a gift to the university during a 24-hour period. The fundraiser was inspired by a prank sponsored by student-government leaders in 1979, when students woke up to 1,008 plastic flamingos gracing the hill on the first day of fall classes. Ever since, the lawn ornaments have been a beloved UW icon — so much so that staff duties include guarding the popular pseudo-birds from students who attempt to pilfer them.
This year’s event, which was the fifth Fill the Hill, harnessed energy from all the other activities during October’s Homecoming weekend to draw more than 860 donors and $172,000 in donations. Staff wore special sweatshirts imprinted with the words Flamingo Security on the back, prompting numerous photo requests from passersby.
For the first time, WFAA also opened the volunteer gig to local alumni and corporations with a lot of Badger alumni on staff. “We had a really great start on this by working with American Family Insurance to get some of their American Family Badgers on the hill,” says marketing manager Caroline Sullivan ’12, who heads Fill the Hill.
Several members of the women’s track team also volunteered, spending a shift doing sprints up and down the hill in their uniforms. According to WFAA volunteer and development program specialist Nathalie McFadden ’14, “they were very into it and definitely deterred a lot of ‘thieves.’ ”
But it was WFAA IT director and Ironman Frank Ace ’86 who really stole the show. Not only did he prevent the theft of a flamingo — he also got a $10 donation from the student.
“It is because of Frank,” says Sullivan, “that we inaugurated the Frank Ace MVP Fill the Hill Award, which he graciously accepted this year.”
Explaining why he signed up to help staff the event, Ace says, “Volunteering for Fill the Hill allows you to participate in what has become a quintessential UW–Madison experience. You get to be outside on beautiful Bascom Hill, interacting with your colleagues, students, and others who are passing through. Many people have a genuine interest in what they see happening and enjoy talking with the volunteers. It’s a fun way to do good.”
Campaign Update
As of December 2017, UW–Madison has raised more than $2.3 billion as part of its All Ways Forward comprehensive campaign. That’s 73 percent of the way toward the overall goal of $3.2 billion. The campaign runs from 2013 to 2020, and it’s the largest in the UW’s history. WFAA has received more than 177,000 gifts so far.