UNM students joined forces with Ronald McDonald on Saturday at the second annual World Children's Day Block Party.
People donated money to the Ronald McDonald House by purchasing game booth tickets. All proceeds from the event went to the Ronald McDonald House.
The organization helps families with ill children by giving money to families who can't afford medical care, volunteer and UNM student Damien Sanchez said.
"With the intervention of people like the Ronald McDonald House, these people can get a sense that there are people out there who care," he said.
Sanchez said he has been volunteering for the Ronald McDonald House since the beginning of the semester.
"I really relish the opportunity to get involved with them, because they are such an altruistic organization that does so many great things," he said. "They have great goals in mind."
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Sanchez said the object of the day was to get families out to donate money and learn about the charity.
"This is a wonderful opportunity to get people to come out and help strengthen the community," he said.
Members of Phi Eta Sigma, a campus honor society, donated their time taking tickets at booths.
Junior Crystal Nielsen said she spent the day setting up the games, testing them out on different age groups of children and handing out prizes.
Nielsen said she is impressed with what the Ronald McDonald House has done for children.
"I just had to be a part of it today," she said.
Martin and Theresa Mares organized the event after what they said was a successful fund-raiser last year. They said they were inspired when the community came to show their support despite ugly weather.
"It was on the worst day in November last year," he said. "There were winds of about 70 miles per hour, and we had around 2,000 people show up."
They raised $15,000 from that event and said they hoped to raise $10,000 this year.
Theresa said more than 6,000 people were expected to show up and contribute.
"We asked the Downtown Action Team to help us out, and all the vendors and sponsors came through to make this all possible," Martin said.
