An unusual sound floated up to the residence hall windows of the South Quad last night: praise music.

The Praise Fest, sponsored by Chi Alpha Ministries, and the Volunteer Fair combined live worship music with booths providing information on area ministries, churches and volunteer organizations.

The Volunteer Fair spotlighted over seven area volunteer organizations and agencies.

One to two hundred people walked through the fair, estimated Lynette Siegel, a junior early childhood education major and representative for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

“We made quite a few contacts,” she said. “I think it’s helpful when all the organizations are in one place because then you can see all that there is to offer.”

The Praise Fest featured the Praise Assembly of God youth praise team and the Charleston Community Church praise team.

The event was largely attended by families from the Charleston community, who stayed throughout the majority of the three-hour evening, while most Eastern students who attended only passed through.

“I don’t think it was very student-oriented,” Siegel said. “For a community event, it was good.”

In the middle of the Praise Fest, pastors from area churches and campus ministries introduced themselves.

“It was neat for the students to see all the different pastors and how they’re all a family, and they all get along,” Siegel said.

Sarah Jones, a part-time Eastern student studying elementary education and the lead singer of the Praise Assembly of God praise team, said it was fun to get all the different churches together to focus on God.

She said she got positive feedback from people who attended the event.

“People enjoyed the fact that they got to see lots of the churches represented,” Jones said. “It’s one thing to hear a name, and it’s another to see how they actually worship God.”

Siegel said the music seemed to be geared toward an older audience, which may have been the cause for the low attendance by Eastern students.

Nevertheless, Siegel believed the Praise Fest was a positive event.

“It was good for all the people with their windows open to hear the music,” she said. “It’s a God thing. He can handle it.”