An ISU fraternity helped raised over $1,000 in memory of an 11-year-old cancer victim. The money was raised by Sigma Chi fraternity during their annual Derby Days.Ryan Downing, Derby Days chairman for Sigma Chi, 2136 Lincoln Way, said the event began in 1933 at the University of California at Berkeley. Each chapter of the national fraternity donated the money from the event to the organization of their choice. Downing said they decided to donate all of the profits to the Children’s Miracle Network in 1992.Last year, Sigma Chi raised $516,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network in their nationwide philanthropic effort, said Downing, sophomore in aerospace engineering.”The money raised by the ISU chapter will help support children at the University of Iowa Hospitals who are critically ill or suffer from chronic illnesses, such as cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy, as well as their families,” said Laura Wenman, director of the Children’s Miracle Network for the University of Iowa Hospitals.Matthew Mason attended Derby Days in 1998 and helped judge the lip-sync contest. He lost his debilitating eight-year fight with spinal-cord cancer in November of that year, just months after his visit.Matthew loved playing baseball said his mother, Linda, and he was a “a fighter who never gave up.”The following year, the fraternity established a traveling trophy known as the “Mason Cup,” which Linda Mason presents annually to the winning sorority on the final day of the competition.All money raised locally by the Children’s Miracle Network, a national charity, is kept within the state, Wenman said.”It is wonderful that the enthusiasm of Sigma Chi has continued throughout the years,” she said. Wenman said the University of Iowa Hospitals care for 250 children each day, 100 of whom are hospitalized for in-patient care.”Uses for the money are based on the needs of the given year and include the purchase of books, art supplies and computers to make the hospital atmosphere more homelike for the children,” she said.Donations are also used to purchase highly-sophisticated medical equipment, Wenman said.”The men of Sigma Chi are truly making a difference that they can see,” she said.The main event of Derby Days is the Derby Olympics, in which sororities compete in competitions such as a three-legged race, bat race and egg joust, he said.This year’s Derby Day winners, the women of Sigma Kappa, 233 Gray Ave., have placed the traveling trophy in the foyer of their chapter house.”Keeping the trophy in a very visible place will continue to remind us of how we all got together and worked really hard for this great cause,” said Emily White, member of Sigma Kappa.In addition to the trophy, the sorority received 10 percent of the money raised in the event, which they will donate to Alzheimer’s research, their national philanthropy, said White, senior in psychology.Children and families benefiting from the Children’s Miracle Network are usually present for parts of the week, but were unable to attend this year due to hazardous weather conditions, Downing said.In spite of the weather conditions, Linda Mason made her way to the Sigma Chi house to pass on the trophy to this year’s winners.”I know that everyone is busy with their studies and tests, and it is really neat to see them come out and help kids who are less fortunate than themselves and are going through so much,” Mason said.