For the 3rd year in a row, Penn State fans will hold a “Blue-Out” at Beaver Stadium– an awareness campaign and fundraiser for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR). This year’s game will be against Kent State on September 21.

The event is put together each year by One Heart, a group of Penn State students formed together to stop the sexual abuse of children. In its first year, over $25,000 was raised in t-shirt sales alone. In 2012, over $74,000 was raised through t-shirt sales, canning outside Beaver Stadium, and other smaller fundraisers.

Current leader Tori Smith said they decided on this specific game because “it is All U Day, and we wanted to involve all Penn State campuses in the event.” She also mentioned that State Shades will be selling Blue-Out edition sunglasses, with 20% of the proceeds being donated. This year, they are hoping to break the $100,000 mark.

The idea for a “Blue Out” came about when Laura March and Stuart Shapiro, grad students in November 2011, were reading up on the scandal and were upset and disgusted by what they saw and heard — so they decided to do something about it. Coincidentally, they found that the color to represent child abuse awareness was blue, so they started to spread word and, sure enough, the game was declared a Blue-Out. A bulk of that event’s proceeds were donated to Prevent Child Abuse PA.

From now on, all proceeds will benefit Vision of Hope, the the fund within PCAR directly aimed at protecting children from the devastation of sexual abuse.

T-shirts are currently for sale at the on-campus Penn State Student Book Store, and will also be sold at the Family Clothesline and the Student Bookstore downtown in coming weeks. All shirts will be sold for $15, will the proceeds being donated to PCAR.