Tables in the campus center will overflow with cupcakes next week as a group of students advocate awareness of the Save the Storks Foundation.

Students will hand out 500 free cupcakes April 18-19 to students in hopes of spreading a message about pro-life.

The event was inspired by a larger National Pro-Life Cupcake Day that took place on Oct. 9 where hundreds of thousands of cupcakes were given away in different cities, said Rebekah Leitner, senior nutrition major from Marow, Ohio.

Leitner said cupcakes are symbolic of the birthdays that aborted babies will never have.

“I know that there are people facing that on this campus because I’ve met girls on our campus who have had abortions,” Leitner said. “So this isn’t an issue that is outside of ACU.”

Leitner discovered Save the Storks last November after Bob Smiley performed on campus wearing a Save the Storks shirt. Afterwards, she looked up the organization and has been hooked ever since.

Save the Storks is a fairly new organization. It takes ultrasound machines and puts them in the back of a bus that is driven to abortion clinics. The Save the Storks team asks women entering the clinics if they would like a free ultrasound. An estimated three out of five women that accept end up changing their mind about their abortion, Leitner said.

“You’re essentially educating the mom so she’s fully aware of what she’s doing,” Leitner said. “It’s non-confrontational and relaxed; they’re coming on their own terms so it’s not pushy and it’s not offensive.”

Save the Storks’ first bus was placed in New York City, because it is considered the abortion capital of America, Leitner said. About half of the nation’s abortions happen there. The organization’s second bus will be operating in Dallas starting this summer.

“It was started by young people because they didn’t want to be just standing by with a sign,” Leitner said.

After looking around campus for other ways to get involved in pro-life activities and being unsuccessful in her search, Leitner said she decided to start something herself.

She has also talked to the Chapel office about bringing in a speaker on the topic but said she thought it seemed to be too big of a step for ACU to take right now.

Andrea Fetchik, senior nutrition major from Warner Robins, Georgia, said she would like to see a group of students come together on the ACU campus and potentially organize speakers to come around Justice Week.

“That’s the big issue, I really don’t know of any other pro-life things around here, which is sad because I think people are blind that it happens so much,” Fetchik said. “Even here on ACU campus there are people that have had abortions that go to school here, and I don’t think people realize how big of an issue it is, especially among Christian students.”

Fetchik said abortion was a prominent issue for her because her sister had a child that died at five weeks old. Through that, she said human life has come to mean a lot because babies are not able to speak for themselves.

Leitner said, “I would like people to be more aware of some of the activities they can do to raise awareness about abortion and to understand the issue more and to understand ways to help. A lot of people take a hands-off approach because they don’t want to get their hands dirty, they don’t want to get into controversy.”

Leitner and Fetchik are two of five girls making cupcakes, and they are looking for additional help with baking that week.

Leitner said they would be giving away the cupcakes for free, but will accept donations to send to Save the Storks.

“People were encouraging Steve Job’s mom to get an abortion,” Leitner said. “And he changed the world. What a difference one life can make.”