Greeks raise money for charities
As the school year winds down, members of the Greek community are rallying for support for their philanthropies or charitable organizations.
Each fraternity and sorority has at least one organization for which its members raise money and donate time and labor. Here is a recap of what activities the Greeks have done throughout the year and a few that are still slated to happen at Utah State University.
Alpha Chi Omega Dollar Days is Alpha Chi Omega’s big event and takes place each fall semester. The $3,800 raised through the sale of $1 burgers and drinks went to the USU Women’s Center, said Jamie Fisher, vice president for recruitment and a sophomore in public relations.
Fisher said students dunked USU athletes, cheerleaders, Associated Students of Utah State University officers and faculty for $1 at a dunk tank.
She said Alpha Chi Omegas also handed out Red Zone Kits which included pamphlets about rape awareness and rape whistles.
More recently the sorority members have been mindful of U.S. troops deployed abroad.
“We made care packages for troops in Afghanistan,” Fisher said.
Chi Omega The second annual Chi-0 Fest kicked off April 4 in the Taggart Student Center Ballroom and featured performances by live bands. 13th Ave, P.S., Lokalgrown, the Jenna Land Band, and Jane Thatcher and Sarah Graves entertained, while the sorority members were able to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Cara Jones, a sophomore studying public relations, said all accounting for the fund raiser hasn’t been completed, but approximately 300 people paid the $3 admission price to be in attendance. Jones was optimistic.
“It went really well,” she said.
Jones said the foundation makes dreams come true for terminally-ill children.
Delta Sigma Phi Laughter will be ringing Tuesday in the TSC Ballroom at Delta Sigma Phi’s comedy night. It will feature a comedian from Wise Guys, an Ogden comedy club, and admission will be $3, said Josh Murphy, fraternity president and a junior studying civil engineering.
Murphy said the proceeds will go to benefit the fraternity’s national philanthropy, the March of Dimes, and may become an annual event.
The March of Dimes receives help from the members of Delta Sigma Phi more than once each year.
Annually, the fraternity sponsors Walk America, a walk-a-thon for which businesses pledge to donate a set number of dollars per person per mile walked.
This year’s Walk America will take place April 27, Murphy said.
Service is something Murphy said he isn’t naturally inclined to do, but is glad for the opportunity.
“It gives me a chance to develop that side of my personality,” he said.
Members of the fraternity also participate in a Logan Canyon cleanup, Murphy said.
Kappa Delta A performance by last year’s Star Search winner, Eclipse was the capstone of this year’s talent show, sponsored by the Kappa Delta sorority Thursday.
Talents ranged from guitar to vocal, dance and lip synch performances.
Lindsay Jones, a senior majoring in physical education and health, said 80 percent of the event’s proceeds will go to the Child and Family Support Center in Logan.
Amir Malek, philanthropy chair of the Interfraternal Council, said Kappa Delta is a finalist for the Robins Awards for organization of the year.
Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha dose two major charity events each year, said John Wood, a sophomore studying chemistry. In the fall, the fraternity held a date auction which raised more than $700 for the Red Cross, he said.
Money doesn’t always need to be sought in order to help people.
“We also did a clothing drive for Somebody’s Attic,” Wood said.
More than 1,500 articles of clothing were made available for sale for people with low incomes, he said.
Members of Pi Kappa Alpha recently adopted a section of Highway 89-91 in Sardine Canyon, from which they remove litter once each month.
Sigma Chi Derby Days, a week-long fund-raising event for the Children’s Miracle Network, is sponsored by the members of Sigma Chi.
Rob Ward, a fourth-year member of the fraternity and a senior majoring in business information systems, said the newest event of Derby Days this year was Sig-A-Servant, in which members of various sororities hired Sigma Chi members for two hours to do yard and housework.
“We raised about $1,300,” Ward said.
Other events of the week were a date auction and a flag football tournament between sororities. Ward said Derby Days is a national event with Sigma Chi and was conceived in the spring of 1933 by the Alpha Beta chapter at the University of California-Berkeley under the name “Channingway Derby.”
Ward said next year members of the fraternity plan to make the event more campus-oriented.
“It’s P.R. plus good will,” he said. “It gets us involved in the community.”
Ward said Merlin Olsen, former USU football player and member of Sigma Chi, also sponsors the Children’s Miracle Network.
Sigma Nu “We do a lot with the Red Cross,” said Malek, the fraternity’s philanthropy chair. “We donated $2,000 to them after a [fund-raising] party we had.”
Currently, members of Sigma Nu, another finalist for the Robins Awards for organization of the year, are working with Habitat for Humanity and are trained to work with Scrubby Bear, a spokesman for child sanitation.
Malek said members of the fraternity will teach children how to wash their hands correctly and instruct them on the importance of sanitation.
With 22 active members, Sigma Nu was able to make a strong showing during a Halloween food drive.
“We donated one-third of the cans generated by the entire campus,” Malek said.
Theta Nu Xi Members of USU’s multicultural sorority sponsored a walk-a-thon in September to raise money for a summer camp that teaches acceptance of diversity, said Celestial Starr Bybee, ASUSU president and one of the sorority’s founders. The walk-a-thon is organized in part by the sorority’s national philanthropy, Walk as One, which is part of the National Conference for community and Justice (NCCJ).
NCCJ fights bias, bigotry and racism in the United States, according to the walk-a-thon registration form.
Psi Sigma Phi members were unavailable for comment.