A spaghetti dinner fund-raiser will be held tonight to benefit the men of Theta Chi Fraternity, whose house was destroyed by a fire on October 5.

Jeremy Galvin, Interfraternity council vice president of operations and one of the co-directors for the fund-raiser, said the IFC came up with the idea to help the men as they work towards getting a new house.

“We thought maybe the Greek system should do something to show their support and this idea came about,” he explained.

The dinner will be held tonight from 5 to 8 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Ames, 200 Lynn Avenue. A $4 donation is requested, which will “get you all the spaghetti you want to eat,” Galvin said.

Galvin said there has been “just awesome support” from students. “We’re weren’t expecting nearly the type of response we got. We’re looking to serve quite a few people.”

He said there are over 500 people from ISU sororities and fraternities alone who have said they will attend. The event has also found support from local businesses, with donations in the form of 200 pounds of raw spaghetti and 60 gallons of sauce.

Even though the church is only capable of holding 154 people at a time, Galvin isn’t worried.

“We’re really happy about that and we’ll try to accommodate everyone,” Galvin said. If the weather is nice, he said they might set up tables outside.

Galvin has spent much of the last two weeks organizing the event along with Ben Smith, a member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, as co-directors for it.

“It’s taken quite a bit of time but it’s for a great cause. It’s helping the men of Theta Chi get back on their feet,” Galvin said. “We think that by doing this we’re giving something back to them and helping them with their transition.”

Mike Taylor, Theta Chi president, said the transition hasn’t been too difficult, and that the community has shown a great deal of support for them.

“The first week is a little tough, but for the most part things are going well,” he said. Twenty of the men from Theta Chi are being housed at Adelante fraternity, 318 Welch Ave.

Taylor said the men are hopeful they will someday have another house.

“We will build a new house,” he said, adding that the old one will be coming down in a month or so.

The money raised from tonight’s event will either be put toward a new house or for supplies that were lost, Taylor said.