A ring toss and balloon darts were a few of the games some greek system members helped out with at the Abbie Sawyer Elementary School’s annual carnival.

Members of the fraternities Alpha Tau Omega, 2122 Lincoln Way, Delta Upsilon, 117 Ash Ave., Phi Delta Theta, 2035 Sunset Dr., Phi Kappa Theta, 2110 Lincoln Way, and Theta Delta Chi, 217 Ash Ave., and the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma, 120 Lynn Ave., helped with the Winter Festival Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Susan Stoll, parent volunteer and coordinator of the festival, said the event would not be possible without the greek volunteers.

“They’re wonderful,” she said. “They volunteer time to make our carnival work. We couldn’t have it without the volunteers from the fraternities and sororities. There are not enough parent volunteers.”

The festival is the Parent Teacher Organization’s major fund-raiser at Abbie Sawyer Elementary School, 4316 Ontario St. The proceeds from previous years have been used for gym and playground equipment and laptop computers for classrooms.

This year, the festival was promoted as a family event emphasizing parental supervision.

“The kids really enjoy having Mom and Dad at their school,” said Stoll, who has two children who attend Abbie Sawyer Elementary School. “It gives the older kids an activity for the weekend, and it’s a fun activity.”

Volunteers said they enjoyed helping out with the event.

“It was good to relive how much fun it was to be in elementary school and how fun it was,” said Jennifer Tapke, philanthropy chair for Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Student volunteers were divided into different rooms to help with the games and prizes.

“It’s nice for the kids because I think we brought a cheerful atmosphere, and they interacted with us,” said Tapke, sophomore in computer engineering. “We were that age not too long ago. [The festival] was really fun.”

Other student groups have volunteered in the past, but the majority have been from the greek system, Stoll said.

“Any time you get a chance to get the greek system out in the community, we try and take advantage of it, and it’s with kids,” said Kyle Schuman, president of Delta Upsilon.

This year, the festival was a “scaled-down version” from two years ago, Stoll said, when there were 199 volunteers compared to this year’s 78.

“People have to volunteer, or else it won’t be a go,” Stoll said. “We didn’t have it last year, and parents missed it.”

Last year, there weren’t enough parent volunteers or a chairperson so the festival was canceled.