Written by: Stephen Holtzman and Sophia Vicenzino
With the Dream Forward Campaign underway and 100 Days ‘Till THON right around the corner, Greek Organizations all around campus are ramping up on their fundraising in fun and creative ways.
Throughout the yearlong effort, many fundraisers ensue throughout efforts from all the organizations. A very popular fundraiser this semester has been “Pie an Org”. This fundraiser involves members from that specific organization volunteering to get pied in the face by participators who pay for the pies. With one pie being about $3 to two pies being about $5, this is a super fun and easy way they raise a lot of money very quickly. It was not only a hit among the Greek organizations, but many other orgs around campus!
Another huge fundraiser that Greek organizations participated in was a powderpuff game, which is where the girls in sororities play flag football and are coached by the fraternities. Pi Beta Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Theta, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Acacia, and Alpha Tau Omega all paired up to play each other and raise money. With a fee to not only play in the game, but also to coach or spectate, this was a huge hit, and many came to watch who was going to win the ultimate showdown. Along with the friendly competition came a great atmosphere where even THON™ families came to enjoy the game. Shout out to Gamma Phi Beta and Acacia for taking home the first place title this year!
Bingo! Greek Organizations across the board are using their personal social media platforms to get friends and family to donate to the kids. Members are posting “Bingo Boards” with donation amounts in an effort to fill out their boards first. This is a great way to spread awareness in a fun and proactive way. Something to look forward to in the near future are the Dare Boards. Similar to the Bingo Boards, the dare boards are posted on social media with various dares paired with a donation amount. When a donation goes through, the donor has the opportunity to pick the dare that the recipient has to do. Some dares include: posting an embarrassing picture, taking a hot sauce shot, cracking an egg on your head, and other fun and ridiculous challenges.
One of the most common fundraisers for Greek Organizations in the past couple of years has been fundraisers with restaurants like Canes and El Jefes, where if you go and credit that organization on a specific date and time slot, a portion of the profit gets credited to that organizations total for THON. On campus, these lines have stretched for blocks, and is a practice that will continue for years to come due to its high success rate among students.
Houses including Sigma Phi Epsilon, Acacia, Phi Kappa Theta, and others got spooky for the holidays by hosting haunted houses for THON families and the surrounding State College communities. Each house charged a set admission price that was donated directly to the kids. Each house was decorated in a unique and fun way, and members of the organization dressed up in costumes and makeup with specific themes to enhance the theatrics of the haunted house. We hope to see more greek organizations having holiday-themed fundraisers to spread not only awareness but spirit as well.
Greek Organizations account for a large percentage of THON’s overall total, and it’s great to see all of them come together for this amazing cause. With partners like ATO/ZTA raising a total of $410,126.59, it’s important that these fundraisers continue to go strong. So, if you are ever on the HUB lawn keep your eyes open for someone to get pied!