For the next five weeks, eight members of the greek community will compete for a scholarship by trying to sell their own Cold Stone ice cream “creation” to the most customers.

Cold Stone Creamery of Ames is holding its second annual Go Greek Scholarship Contest. Greek fraternities and sororities were invited to nominate one member of its chapter to participate.

Each contestant had to invent his or her own Cold Stone Creation, which is a choice of a flavored ice cream blended with mix-ins, such as candy, nuts, fruit, cookies or sauces. The participant with the most purchased creation at the end of the allotted time period wins the scholarship.

“We were just looking for ways to do something fun with the university,” said Stephan Siegel, owner of the Ames Cold Stone. “It gets our name out … [and we can] give back to the community.”

There are two rounds in the contest. The first round is from Sept. 6 to Sept. 26. The top five creations will then advance to the final round, from Sept. 27 to Oct. 17.

During the rounds, the names and descriptions of the eight creations are displayed in the store. Points are awarded to each creation based on the size of the order bought, ranging from one point for a kids-size purchase to seven points for a 48-ounce purchase.

Moira Sullivan, junior in management and a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, was a participant in the contest last year. Her creation, named “Brownie Vengeance,” won second place.

Sullivan said the members of her sorority supported her throughout the contest to help her win.

“They all went and got ice cream a lot [and] I brought it home, too,” Sullivan said.

Siegel said that the greek chapters do a lot of their own promoting for the contest.

“It’s their initiative – their drive,” Siegel said. “They come up with creative ways to promote it and we’ll try to help them.”

Last year’s contest winner was Anna Ryneer, junior in kinesiology and health and a member of Chi Omega sorority. Her winning creation was called the “ChiOkie-Dokie,” which included cake batter ice cream with caramel, cookie dough and Oreo cookies.

The amount of the scholarship depends each year on the number of greek chapters participating. This year with eight contestants the winner will receive a scholarship of up to $250.

Cold Stone will also provide a free ice cream social to the members of the winning fraternity or sorority, and each participant will win a Cold Stone gift bag.

“It’s fun for us,” Siegel said. “It’s a great way to kick off the school year.”