Cal U’s Meteorology Club hosted a spaghetti dinner buffet in an effort to reaccumulate the funds they lost when their budget was cut. The buffet was just one of the few fundraisers they hosted Wednesday.

Serina Croyle, acting club president, organized the dinner, said the Student Association Inc., the nonprofit organization in charge of managing the clubs on campus, cut the Meteorology Club’s budget by $4,000 and the purpose behind all of the fundraisers is to earn some of it back.

“Our goal all in all is two grand,” Croyle said. “We have this set up, the popcorn, and we have the fudge fundraiser, which it going great. I alone have sold $250 worth of stuff; I know another kid that was here earlier sold $300.”

The Meteorology Club, is open to all students interested in the weather, meets at 11 a.m. Thursday in room 270 of the Manderino Library.

The buffet was hosted in the south wing of the Convocation Center, from 4 to 8 p.m.

Admission was $10 in cash, $11 through PayPal and was open to students, faculty, and the general populace. Around 5 p.m. Croyle estimated 20 patrons came through to have a bite.

“One person came in, had 6 to-go diners for her family,” Croyle said.

The menu consisted of spaghetti, garlic bread, tossed salad, and cookies. The food was provided through AVI Foodsystems, the same company that provides all of the food to Cal U. The club was billed $281.95 for the food, plates, silverware, napkins, and take-home containers. Croyle said one of the reasons the spaghetti buffet was chosen was because of how little other clubs have hosted one and she had experience with them.

“At my high school we used to do these a lot and they always turned out pretty well,” Croyle said. “And it is something a lot of people like, so I thought we’d get a big turnout.”

Social media manager for the Meteorology Club, Nick Wilkens said while it was slow at 5 p.m. they were expecting a larger crowd of around 30 later on when the Cal U band finishes practice. Croyle said the time was a good range for dinner time.

“The band practice closes at 6, so I wanted to give them the chance to come and get food after working so much,” she said. “Build up those carbs after marching for several hours.”

The spaghetti dinner was two months in the planning. In that time, Wilkens said they pushed the advertisements as much as they could, posting on all their social media accounts, reaching out to alumni, and putting up flyers in many of the buildings on campus. The Meteorology Club also got into contact with WCAL, Cal U’s radio station and posted the dinner on the campus’ announcements page.

Patrons such as fellow student Stephani Shaw said the food and service were good and the atmosphere was fun and happy.

“I thought they did a good job putting to together,” Shaw said.

The meteorology club sponsored other fundraisers that were taking place simultaneously along the buffet. A raffle held next to the buffet table, where people could pay $2 for five tickets and $5 for 25 tickets for a chance to win a range of prizes. Other sales included fudge and popcorn.

“We’re doing a popcorn sale at Eternally Yours, a local business we support based out of Charleroi,” Wilkens said.

Wilkens also said they had brainstormed other ideas, but chose not to use them because they had low profit margins.

Croyle said the of the fundraisers is to earn enough so the club can take as many members as they can to the American Meteorological Society conference, they attend every year in January. The conference hosts a meeting where students, professional meteorologists, or anyone with an interest in weather can go and sit in on panels. Croyle said it’s a great opportunity to start your career in the field, networking with people, and the fundraisers get them a little bit closer to making it happen.

“Our dinner made a profit of over $100, not including donations from local businesses and from some people who donated extra after buying a dinner,” Croyle said. “For a first-time event, I call this a success.”