Despite losing participants and volunteers to the Final Four basketball game Saturday, the Wichita Color Splash Charity Run didn’t see the effects.

Up to 300 runners and walkers showed up at 8:30 a.m. April 6 at the Cox Farm to register for either the 5K race or the one mile “family fun run.”

The event was sponsored by PovSolve, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to aiding global poverty and spreading awareness of local poverty and homelessness.

Bhakta, a freshman at Wichita State, organized the group three years ago. So far, it has partnered with local organizations, served food at a local homeless shelter and hand-delivered blankets to impoverished families in India.

PovSolve has already made a presence on the WSU campus.

“Eighty percent of our volunteers are Wichita State students,” Bhakta said about Saturday’s Color Splash.

Money from vendors, registration and donations raised more than $10,000, most of which, Bhakta said, goes toward the construction of a new elementary school in Zambia, a country in southern Africa. Wichita homeless aid projects get $2,000.

“Our goal for construction of the school was already achieved,” Bhakta said. “This money is now just for supplies, uniforms, teachers pay.”

Color Splash races are just like any other, Bhakta said, except that throughout the trail, stations are set up with colored powder that runners can throw at each other.

“It’s adding a new element to the traditional 5K fundraiser,” he said. “The color signifies us splashing positive color, so it’s symbolic of that.”

WSU sophomore Emily McMahan, with her Final Four garb underneath a paint-splattered T-shirt, attended her first Color Splash event.

“I went really well I think, especially if you knew somebody. You could just chase them down until you get them. I think that was best part,” McMahan said.

PovSolve put on its first Color Splash last year, and since then, the races have become the “in thing.”

“There’s a lot of fundraisers that say ‘come out and run a 5K with us,’” Bhakta said. “Last year, everyone just loved it.”

Now, PovSolve is just less than halfway to reaching their yearly $20,000 goal.

“It’s like a dream come true,” Bhakta said. “I’ve always wanted to do a large project like this and I’m finally at a point in my life where I have the resources to actually do it.”